The Solitude's Flame
by Y. L. Ilovu
Summary: Tsuna once again let himself be dragged around by Gokudera's freaky ideas. But for the first time, it seems that the bomber isn't the only one seeing supernatural beings everywhere... [AU Spiritual Entities]
1. Chapter 1

_(07/12/2014) - metric system_

_Salve !_

_This is L. Ilovu writing ~ So this... is the first story held by this account. It's actually a translation, but you can leave reviews (you **will** leave reviews, right?) as if L. was the actual author. Not that I want to steal the credits, but it's more that Y. was the original author, so she'll see the reviews, too! :)_

_Also, don't be shy, we also reply to the anonymous reviews ! (At least, L. does :D)_

_Well, L. won't bore you any longer, here's the disclaimer and the story !_

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer<em>**

_Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano_

_The Solitude's Flame ( **La Flamme de la Solitude **)'s original idea belongs to Y._

_L. was given the right to translate!_

_This chapter has been corrected by **Red Pure Crane**_

_._

_The next chapter should get out in two weeks! (21/12/2014 - metric system)_

_(: Enjoy :)_

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><p>Just like every morning, Tsuna woke up just before he would be late at school. He barely got the time to take a quick shower, but he promised himself, just like every morning, to dip into a <em>real<em> good bath when he got back. He devoured his breakfast in a flash. With his school material roughly placed in his schoolbag, he ran towards the door, yelling "itekimasu" as he immediately ran out the exit. The brunet feebly tried to tie his tie on the road, last toast falling between his lips. As he just gulped it down, he arrived at the corner of the street, where Gokudera and Yamamoto took the time to wait for him. They did this every morning, even though they could get scolded by some teachers that were unhappy with their late arrival or get caught by a disciplinary committee member, or worse, by their leader, a usual traumatizing experience.

Getting called Dame-Tsuna by some of his classmates was another usual occasion. They liked to torment him frequently, but only when his friends, who were way more charismatic and popular than him, weren't around. It was a must for each and every single one of his days.

This day, they profited from his need to buy something before catching up with his friends because he had forgotten his bento for the nth time. They took the time to mock him a little bit and steal some of the little food he had before abandoning him and putting their lunch break to good use.

Not wanting to make his friends wait any longer, and lacking enough money to buy anything else, Tsuna didn't have any other choice than to go to the roof-top, where his friends were waiting.

Well, it was another event not-so-surprising of his student's life, an event he wasn't even shocked about anymore. He had resigned.

However, his companion's reactions were always the exact opposite of his: indignation and outrage.

"Those bastards!" Gokudera fumed after hearing what happened to Tsuna, "They'll pay for this!"

The main victim replied to this with temperance. He was used to it, after all. No matter how many times the silver-head went and scolded them for the bullying they did, it never changed. They always came back as soon as his two protectors looked away, and he would have to endure their wrath even more. It often was worse when Gokudera went to avenge him…

"But," Yamamoto started once the hot-tempered one of the group calmed down, "Tsuna, you do know that even when you forget your lunch, we can share with you."

Oh, yes, he knew that very well. Actually, he was currently profiting from their kindness.

Nonetheless, he said, "Yes, but…I can't rely on you guys every single time! Especially you, Yamamoto, you need energy for your baseball training."

"Oh, I'm alright, you know. My father always insists on making my bentos, but he always puts too much in them. I could give some to everyone in class and I'd still have some left~"

"Yeah…Whatever, I can't say when they'll come back, but I won't stop living and depend too much on you just because of them. Well, let's not talk about this anymore, it's done anyway."

Won't stop living because of them…Tsuna would be really happy if he could manage that. But, even though he was used to the mockery, he kept on shaking each time he had to walk through school alone. Normally, he had to be Gokudera and Yamamoto's shadow, and he knew that if he dared to step out of their influence zone, something would go wrong, depending on the circumstances. Nonetheless, since he always got along with his will to not rely too much on the others. For whom he estimated to be a heavy burden already, he sometimes had to take the risk.

And even though his friends were aware of this, they still went with his wish, forgetting this awful topic to concentrate on happier subjects.

"Oh! Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed, all leftover of anger suppressed. "We should try to invoke spirits!"

"Huh?" the brunet gasped, not able to reply anything else.

"Haha~ Sounds fun~ Let's do it!"

"I wasn't talking to you, baseball idiot! Your cosmic moron energy will shoo away the spirits without any doubt, as usual."

As the nth one-way argument began between the two, Tsuna took the time to understand what Gokudera was talking about. It wasn't really hard. Each time his face would brighten with sparkles, it was about mystery and occult. Speaking of sparkles and mysteries, there still was this weird nickname the silver head called him, 'Juudaime.' It was the only secret that Gokudera didn't want to illuminate, even though the small brunet kept pestering him about it. The later was feeling pretty down concerning his friend's passion. He was usually caught up in crappy situations because of it. Take last month for example, when he had dragged them to Kokuyo-Land's abandoned amusement park for a test of bravery created to find some ghosts. And, even though they didn't meet any ghosts –according to Gokudera, because of Yamamoto– the mere thought of this memory was making him shiver in fright. He was so scared of getting lost in the dark.

"Uhm, I don't see why not…but why now in peculiar?" he asked anyway. Of course, his 'why not' was purely rhetorical. He really didn't want to do it, but he knew it was hard to go against his friend's flow. Moreover, he didn't want to hurt him, so he would do it with him. Besides, he wouldn't have the strength to say no. As usual.

But, his question was straight from the heart. Gokudera often talked about trying this experience one day, but he never really proposed it. Tsunayoshi was curious to know what was responsible of this sudden perk of interest.

"Well," His face heated up. "I finally convinced my sister to show us how to do it! I know she's pretty good at these kinds of things, but she never wanted to do it with me…"

Ah, Bianchi…She didn't seem to share his brother's taste when it came to enigmas and supernatural, but it was true that she had some knowledge in occult. Sometimes, even though he didn't ask anything, she bugged the brunet about reading his future in cards to predict any kind of bad things that could happen to him…Her prediction didn't have any difficulties coming true, considering how his life was.

As Gokudera continued to rant about how lucky they were, the door leading to the rooftop opened and a small figure shyly made her way to the outside with ease. It was Chrome, the fourth member of their small group. Ever since she befriended Tsuna, even though she was kind of discreet and aloof, she sometimes joined them. She too, was one of the favorite victims of the bullies in school, and that brought them closer. When she became part of the group, not long after she was transferred from the next town's school, she was immediately adopted by Yamamoto and, surprisingly, Gokudera, who had a hard time with girls because of the freaky fangirls that always followed him. It was good to know that her strange pineapple shaped hair, the eye-patch with a skull on her right eye and her little apartment with a spooky enough aura to be called a haunted house really helped the silver head accept her.

Noticing their small circle against the fence, she quickly went up to them and sat next to them.

"Sorry, the teacher wanted to talk to me after class…" she said to explain her lateness.

Yamamoto assured her that it wasn't a problem. She then asked what the discussion she just interrupted was about. Gokudera was more than happy to inform her of what it was and proposed that she join in too, pretending her aura would abort the bad influence of the 'Yakyuu-baka'.

She hesitated for a second before nodding, muttering a small "okay" that wasn't that astonishing. If she was usually as cowardly as Tsuna, when it came to occult, or everything that would make a normally formed human shake out of mere fear, she proved to be very calm and assured.

Tsuna sighed, seeing that everything was settled and that he was probably the only one to question the idea. It was going to be another bumpy ride…

Well, he supposed that this too, was usual.

* * *

><p>The next weekend was dedicatedto what they finally agreed to. Nevertheless, as the night took over the sky, when Tsuna got into his living room with everyone, he convulsed a little bit.<p>

_When exactly had he allowed this to take place at his house?!_

…And then, he remembered. He already had asked the question, when the others waltzed in.

"Weeeeell," Yamamoto had said, embarrassed. "If it had been at my house, my father would have been grumpy because I didn't take that time to help him at the restaurant…"

"I don't want bad entities in my house." Bianchi objected next.

And when the turn came to Chrome…No, it was best if it didn't take place at her apartment. It would have been even scarier!

"Mah, don't worry, Juudaime," Gokudera tentatively tried, hoping to free him from fear as he still didn't seem convinced. "Nothing can go wrong here, I'm sure of it! This place has a good aura."

Finding his friend ever so full of happiness, Tsuna couldn't help being sceptic. A good aura? Where did that came from? Wasn't it just a bluff for him to accept the deal?

"Moreover, your mother isn't there," Yamamoto said, taking cover for the silver head. "We won't be disturbed like this."

Taking notice of that at the same time as the others, the brunet froze. Yeah, it was true. Where the heck did she go? She usually didn't go out at night without saying anything…

A nervous cough pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up to Gokudera. The silver haired teen, feeling suddenly observed, seemed to be strangely embarrassed.

"A-Ah…Concerning that…"

"Hayato told me that Tsuna's mama always came to serve tea when people were home," Bianchi explained. "As it would have bothered us, I decided to get her out."

The resident of the house quickly got scared. What happened to his mother? He had to admit that the tone was so calm and logical that the young woman had nothing to reassure him. It was as if she found it _normal_ to shoo someone away from their own home so she could be more comfortable.

"So," she continued, not caring in the slightest for her host, "When I caught up with her this afternoon, I slipped a ticket for a free night massage in her bag. She seemed to be pleased with it. It should occupy her for quite a long time."

A ticket for…? Tsuna didn't know if he had to be comforted by the fact that it was 'only' a ticket, or if he had to worry about his interlocutor's methods. Did she just imply she had been _following_ his mother? She sure didn't meet her by chance, she obviously prepared everything beforehand.

When they cleared that up, the preparations for the evening were finished. When the light was shut off and the candles lit, the brunet could feel his fear coming back stronger than ever before. What would they do if something went wrong? No, even if everything went fine, he would remain traumatized for his whole life. He didn't really know if he believed these things or not, but yeah, when in doubt, it was better to be wary…

"Well, let's begin," said Bianchi, making the small brunet's panic reach its peak.

As they took their places around the small table in the living room, around the circle of letters and symbols they drew, Tsuna observed his friends' faces. Gokudera was all excited, Yamamoto was smiling, and Chrome seemed to be a little stiff, but with a will burning in her eyes. As for Bianchi, she seemed as bored as ever.

The pink haired woman put a little glass in the center of the table and began her explanation.

"We'll begin with an anonymous invocation. It'll be easier to get results. Put your fingers on the glass, without forcing, you just have to be in contact with it. Don't think about anything and especially no one in peculiar. Simply concentrate on getting in contact. When you feel ready, call the spirit, one after the other. Chrome, you'll begin. You seem calmer than the others."

"Okay." the young girl nodded, not stuttering for once. Her cheeks reddened a little bit from the sudden honor of beginning that befell on her, not because she was scared of what was going to come.

"But, Aneki, won't you participate?" Gokudera asked. The eldest of the group didn't move a bit as all of them were in place.

"I'll join you when I feel something come. With you four alone, it should be sufficient to begin," she retorted, merciless. No one tried to put her decision in question and they began to concentrate.

Tsuna closed his eyes, out of instinct. Trying to use the situation to empty his spirit of all doubt, he focused on what he had to do, minutely following the words of their guide. He hoped that by doing this, his thoughts wouldn't wander off.

But, no matter what he did, he couldn't calm down. Next to him, Chrome took a deep breath, breaking the silence and ready to talk to…the stranger. Her voice was perfectly measured as she talked, showing that she had completely devoted herself to her task, unlike him, who barely followed the events. A short moment passed before Gokudera took his turn to talk, and then, Yamamoto. Both of them were also really serious, even though they were laughing and getting joyfully nervous a few minutes ago.

Now, it was his turn, but he couldn't do anything, tetanized, throat constricted. There, he surprised himself. The brunet was hoping for something to come, an entity, anything, just as long as he didn't have to open his mouth and explode under pressure.

His cry of help came a few seconds later, but not the way he wished it. He was still pondering the good and the bad of it.

"Stop," Bianchi cut, still as calm as before, even though her intervention alarmed everyone.

"Wh-What is it, Aneki?" Gokudera asked for all of them.

The elder made a head gesture, signifying they could let go of the glass. Chrome sighed in relief, probably seeing a meaning that everything was okay, but it didn't relieve Tsuna. This interruption coming out of nowhere, just when he had to talk, had him scared to the core. What? Why did she make them stop right in the middle of it? Nothing happened yet!

But the lack of activity was actually what was bothering the young lady. "Nothing," she explained, tranquil, not affected by their sudden stress. "It's just that it wasn't working. As it began, I thought it wouldn't have worked."

There again, no one put her words in question, no one objected to the fact that she had deduced that in a few minutes of observation, minutes where _absolutely nothing _had happened, where everything was identical to the moment everything began. They were simply waiting for her to explain a little bit more as to why it didn't work. But she didn't. Instead, she put a finger on the glass and a…a smirk drew itself on her lips.

"I'll try again with you," she said innocently. "We'll see…"

She obviously had an idea in her head, but she also obviously didn't want to tell them what it was before they followed every word she said. Thus, they had to resign themselves and put back their fingers on the glass.

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><p>They had to repeat the exact same maneuver…at least, ten times, each try being rewarded by a failure. In the end, the clock was ticking time away and Bianchi decided that it was time to end the session. Gokudera felt sorry for the mess up, not understanding how it could've turned out like this. He was persuaded that, if his sister helped, it would work. It was why he had asked her green light before doing anything! He let his bottle of anger spill onto Yamamoto, blaming him as the culprit. The baseball player took in the accusations, laughing like always.<p>

Even though the atmosphere and the chatting became a little bit more ordinary and calming, Tsuna still couldn't let go of his eternal fear.

Actually, he didn't partake in impression his friends had on the events.

He hadn't say anything about the evening, making himself small in a corner and becoming like a distant spectator of the scene, deep in thought and doubt.

What bothered him was that he was convinced that something _had_ really happened.

Maybe it was because he was too stressed since he didn't notice his strange feeling before. As time passed in the somewhat still moment, he let his guard down. He slowly began to shut out the constant groaning of the others, going deep inside himself. Instinctively, he said _"no"_ each time the glass wouldn't budge, _"this is no good" _each time they got interrupted, _"it's not that"_ each time someone wondered if there really was a spirit wanting to talk to them here and when they concluded that none would come.

And then, in the end, he had something akin to a confirmation. When the ultimate call was aborted, when everyone had drawn their fingers back, he felt _it._ The glass made a small, very small shiver as he was ready to pull his hand away. He was sure it wasn't an external movement. He was the only one still in contact with the glass.

Nevertheless, this time, just like the other time, he kept it to himself, still hesitating on the veracity of his idea. It was true after all. He was the only one thinking this, while the other four were obvious to his unease. He could still be trapped within his imagination because of fear…

Trying to convince himself that this hypothesis was the right one, he concentrated back on the present reality, vaguely understanding that Bianchi was going to cook them a "consolation meal" and Gokudera was way more scared by this than any spirit and quickly followed her. Yamamoto suddenly disappeared into the bathroom, leaving him alone with Chrome.

In front this situation, he wondered if it would be better to share his doubts with someone before burying them indefinitely. The young girl was surely the most susceptible to take his say seriously. Besides, she was a bit more warmed up than him when it came to occult. He decided to give it a try. "Um…Chrome?"

She turned her sole violet eye towards him, making him hesitate for a moment, but he convinced himself he would do this.

"You…Well, I know it didn't work, but…didn't you feel anything during the…invocation?"

Chrome frowned, not expecting the question, but she guessed that Tsuna had to have a good reason to ask it. Nevertheless, she didn't have any pertinent reply to give him.

"No," she said, unsure of herself, but sincere. "Why?"

"Huh…Nothing," he quickly replied. It was probably just his imagination.

"I think…" she continued, wanting to help. "W-Well, I mean, if you have any questions, you should probably talk about it to Bianchi-san."

Talk about that to Bianchi…? No, Tsuna certainly wouldn't do that. Even though Chrome was admitting she didn't feel anything, there was no reason for the others to reply any differently. He didn't want to pass for some paranoid guy.

"I-I…No, I think it's just me. I might have been under too much stress hahahahahaha…."

His nervous laugh didn't reassure his friend, but she didn't say anything, respecting his decision. As for the brunet…he would have to deal with his own thoughts.

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><p>A few days later, his thoughts still lingered. Even worse, they were gaining in power and size as time passed. He was obsessed with what he felt that night. It made him unable to sleep, and if he did, it was an awful dream. He could hear a weird laugh in the shadows of his room. He usually threw glances over his shoulder. The teen was almost sure he was being followed, being watched. But there was never anything there, at home or behind him. As weird as it was, he still felt uneasy every day, frequently shivering and constantly weak or sick without any reason.<p>

One day, another sign showed up. His bullies, who strangely become more invading lately and who he had designated as his stalkers to make up a rational explanation as to what was happening to him, had cornered him in a dead-end of thealley way. They seemed resolves to finish their deal with him. One of them had a baseball bat in his hand, tapping it ferociously on the ground. Their faces were decorated by carnassial smirks, leaving no doubt in their intention.

In front of them, the feeble teen was shaking like never before, discovering all over again the visceral fear he had when they approached him. They had been mocking and bullying him so much that he got used to it, but even so, he still got scared whenever they wanted to attack him. But the time of the small rackets and gentles pushes seemed to be over. It was a level further.

"So, Dame-Tsuna," one of them said. "Spacing out, lately? You forgot about us or what?"

Huh? Ah, right, he was spacing out, lately. That meant he must have been enduring his bullying more passively than usual. He didn't even remember what kind of tricks they had done to him since lately, he was more occupied with threats way scarier than theirs. That was why they were more aggressive today. Since he wasn't reacting as much to their bullying, they were trying something new.

"Watch out," another exclaimed, "If you're in lala-land too much, you could stumble on something!" To prove his words, he gave a hard kick behind the knees of his victim, who fell down limply, cheek against the dirt.

Seeing him in such a miserable situation seemed to please them as they began to laugh loudly, but they weren't fully satisfied yet. After some more hurtful words accompanied with hits, the one holding the baseball bat walked up to the small brunet. The circle of gangsters closed up on Tsuna, fully covering him with their shadows. If his eyes saw for one second the sunrays over them, it would only be because he was watching out, terrorized by the idea that the ascension of the weapon would soon fall down on him. The others followed the leader's calculated slowness to be sure to finish the brunet, physically and mentally, barking their encouraging words and their exalted yells to the executioner.

Eventually, the hit came down as fast as an arrow. During the ever so small interval separating him from pain, the small brunet prayed that he would black out, or even die, so he wouldn't have to endure anything more.

Nevertheless, the baseball bat didn't even caress him. He felt the breath of the killer over his back. Suddenly, it was over. Around him, no joyful yells were heard, only silence. A lack of voice that was probably as terrified and surprised as his.

Thus, he dared open his eyes, looking up a little bit…and widened them under surprise.

A bit of the baseball bat was lying down on the ground, not so far away from his face And as he should have felt relieved, the situation remained alarming…But for different reasons.

He stayed on the ground, petrified by the invisible thing that had just saved him and ignoring all of his mental signals yelling at him that he had to run. The brunet barely noticed his bullies losing their smiles and their proudness. Stuttering something about the fact that Tsuna must have been a monster, they didn't stay much longer next to their 'cursed' victim. The bullies quickly backed up before following their survival instincts and running without asking any more questions. But Tsuna didn't notice this detail. His eyes were still eyeing the broken part of the baseball bat, shaking so much anyone could have believed he was spasming. He only snapped out of this state when he saw the worried face of Gokudera appearing before him.

"Juudaime! A-Are you okay?!"

The silver haired boy tried to help the brunet back on his feet, but it was useless. Tsuna couldn't keep himself straight. With the help of Yamamoto, they helped him get away out of the alley, waiting for the shock to pass and for him to explain what happened.

"What happened?" the baseball player wondered, as the explanation was taking its sweet time to come out of Tsuna's mouth. He glanced at the broken item on the ground and frowned. "Tsuna?"

"Third year students…broke by itself…" Tsuna managed to say through the shock. His friends' presence was the only thing allowing him to recover a little bit from his emotional turmoil. The brunet felt so weak, he could black out. And the physical pain he was still feeling didn't have much to do with his lack of strength, he was sure of it.

"…Those bastards tried to attack you again?" Gokudera sneered, getting angry on the only part he understood from Tsuna's words. Actually, when he heard that, he didn't even bother listening to what came after.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, seemed to understand a little bit more about what happened after hearing what his friend said, but he couldn't believe it.

"You're saying that the baseball bat broke by itself? It's not possible, even when I hit with all my might, I never managed to do that." Yamamoto was known for his great power in baseball. So if he can't do it, no one can. "Moreover…if they beat you that hard…"

The following words didn't find any voice. If they did beat him that hard, Tsuna would have broken long before their weapon, for sure.

"No, they…didn't hit me." the brunet lied. "It broke before that."

Before his companions could understand the statement –the baseball bat broke _as if it was magic_– Tsuna got away from their supporting arms, stumbling a little bit. Showing his back to them, he said in a monotone voice. "Sorry, I'm not feeling so good. I'll go home."

And he stumbled away, leaving his bewildered friends behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

_( 21/12/2014 ) - metric system_

_Salve !_

_This is L. Ilovu writing ~ Here's the second chapter of The Solitude's Flame. L.'s a bit disappointed that we didn't get any review for the first chapter, since on our respective accounts, we usually have at least one or two. But no worries~ The story interest few of you, it seems ~ Thanks lots to the one who left a favourite/alert ! Here's a bunch of love ! *heart*_

_L. doesn't know whether she'll update the next chapter or not in two weeks, like L. usually does, since she's right in the middle of exams. Yup. Oh, well, whatever._

_No anonymous reviews, so let's jump directly to the disclaimer !_

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer<em>**

_Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano_

_The Solitude's Flame ( **La Flamme de la Solitude **)'s original idea belongs to Y._

_L. was lovingly given the right to translate!_

_**This chapter didn't get correction, wrong/bad grammar ahead!**  
><em>

_._

_The next chapter should be out in two weeks! ( 4/01/2014 - metric system )_

_(: Enjoy :)_

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><p>Tsuna had been staying in bed for a week. During the whole day, he was staring at the mute ceiling, sometimes the window with closed curtains, or the door, which seemed to be locked forever. During the whole night, he woke up, sweaty; he stayed awake, letting his fears control him.<p>

He knew it was only him. Even though he still was weak, he could easily have, on the first day, woken up, went out, and took back his life where he left it. He could even have had turned this at his advantage: with what happened the other time, his school's bullies wouldn't dare approach him for quite a long time. But he didn't manage to go.

It wasn't because of the traumatizing events he endured, no. Well, not quite. Sure, in front of the others, he could use that as an excuse to continue to hide in his hole, but he knew that, in reality, he was already far above that. He still was scared, indeed, but mostly confused, actually. He didn't know what to do with all these supernatural signs he received. To say so, he still didn't choose whether they were true or simply made out of his imagination.

Thankfully, the said signs had stopped ever since the last time he encountered his bullies. He could thus think of it from another point of view… and begin to think of a realistic vision again. But somehow, he just felt as if it were wrong. That, even if he did find a perfectly rational explanation to these weird phenomenon, something would still be missing. That, even if he only settled with forgetting all of that, something new would keep him from doing that.

So, once the sun was going down as another of his solitary reflexion passed, he decided. He had to find something to tell the truth from the lies in this whole situation. And he saw no one else than one person susceptible to help him do that.

Strong with his new will, he gathered his blown up courage, and did his first step.

* * *

><p>A little bit tired from having to walk this fast after some days of doing nothing, Tsuna offered himself a small pause once he arrived to his destination. It was night-time, no one was in the streets; nothing could shorten his ultimate hesitation's time. He felt a little bit stupid, before doing what he had to do. He felt ridiculous, and awfully guilty. Because he went to see <em>this person<em> before even thinking to reassure his friends on his mental state. He did give them enough time to worry about him, this last week, his mobile phone being shut down so he couldn't read his uncountable texts, not replying anymore when someone knocked on his door to say visitors were worried for him.

Even though they did stay in front of his room's door every day, morning, evening, and sometimes, even during the day, skipping class, hoping to see him, to talk to him. He didn't deign get out of his confinement, even when they so hurtfully called out for him, through the door which was separating them.

And just then, without any word, nothing, he went out. But he didn't want; he couldn't speak to them before he did something about his problem. He couldn't possibly have faced them as long as his thoughts would continue to torture him.

Well, what a lack of luck, it's Gokudera who finished in front of him, once he found the motivation to press the doorbell.

A really long silence followed suit. The silver head looked like he was seeing a ghost, mouth wide open.

"Go-Gokudera-kun…" Said Tsuna after a while, guilty as ever. "I-Is your, um… Your sister's here?"

He had spoken with the most reassuring tone he could manage, but his interlocutor frowned, scowling. Ah. He didn't come for him, he probably should think. Nonetheless, he got away from the entrance, waiting for him to go in. It was obvious that his anger and his deception was growing as he leaded the way to the living room. "For you", he let out, a closed expression on his face, with a dark voice, to Bianchi, who was lazily lying on the sofa.

In the short time she had to look up to see Tsuna, the silver head had disappeared. His room's door had slammed shut.

* * *

><p>When he was walking back, the uneasiness still held Tsuna strong. Even though he had said he was going back, Gokudera didn't come to say goodbye, having the same attitude as he still had this afternoon. But he still had managed to snap a "What? No news for days and you waltz in just to see… my sister?! You're going out with her or what? Even if this was the case, it's not a reason to ignore your friends!" when Tsuna did went to knock on his door. In front of this amount of angriness, the young man didn't manage to reply, ever so guilty. He just went away, whispering a sincere excuse at the closed door, promising to go back to school the next day, hoping his friends would understand and wouldn't be too angry at him.<p>

However, his visit hadn't been for nothing: he managed to have true answers to his questions; he had gleaned some pieces of advice on what he had to do for his problem.

_If you feel there's something since that night, it means there's probably something._

That's what Bianchi had said when he entrusted his feelings.

And then, she advised him to watch for all signs he could find. Without trying to explain or justify them, just waiting and accepting them as they came. She had assured him that if he acted like that, the phenomenon would multiply, since he would become more attentive, and that with a little bit of chance, he would finally understand why all of that happened to him.

He had begun the first step of this plan as soon as he was alone at the building's entrance, and, even though he was still processing the violent reaction of Gokudera, he was staring at everything that went on around him, every noise, every draft, every movement he saw from the corner of his eye, waiting for something to happen, for _something _to show itself.

He finally had a response to his demand at the corner of the street. Under the form of a human figure, standing proud in front of him.

Destabilized by this sudden apparition, even more so by this frank reply to his mental request, he got startled and backed up from a few steps. And only after that, he took the time to observe the form.

Maybe he was only a little bit older than him; at least he was taller, dressed with dark clothes. His left eye had a deep indigo colour, the right, a hypnotizing dark red one, and his hairstyle reminded him of something. No expression was visible on his face, but he was also staring at the person in front of him. Noticing this, Tsuna felt forced to open a dialog: "Err… Hum… G-Good evening?"

Few moments passed; the other didn't reply anything. However, the look in his eyes changed. Was he… interested? Amused? Maybe he didn't expect to be seen? And if he didn't say anything, was it because he couldn't hear him? Or maybe he wanted to hear what he was going to say before choosing whether he was worth enough to talk with him or not?

In any way… Tsuna didn't really know how to begin. How did he have to begin? Under the rising panic, he heard himself stutter the first stupid thought he had in mind. He didn't really notice he said that out loud. More like he noticed it too late to go back:

"So um… You're dead, is that it?"

It was a rhetorical question. Seeing his blurry lines, his translucent mass, his light presence just like a breath, it was obvious that his interlocutor could only be an illusion, a hallucination, or a ghost. And considering the last events, the young man tended to think it was the last option. Following Bianchi's advice, he didn't go further for the moment, fearing the loss of contact with it. But… It was that, it was so improbable; he couldn't help but feverishly ask the question.

Nevertheless, it seemed that with this simple question, he already had asked too much. The disappointed look of the spectre was the last thing he saw before he disappeared.

A real good example of his famous imbecility when he was under panic… He knew he shouldn't have asked that: Bianchi had told him most of the spirits didn't like speaking about these subjects, even more so, whatever was the discussion, they had not to be taken lightly.

And he had failed his test hard, obviously.

* * *

><p>As he promised himself, the next morning, Tsuna got up when his alarm buzzed. Right when he had to go to school. He hadn't slept much, but too bad. He couldn't continue living on like that, escaping his own life and his friends.<p>

However, when he opened his door to go take a shower, he got a surprise. Well, it shouldn't have been a surprise, but after receiving Gokudera's angriness yesterday, he didn't expect any of his friends to care for him anymore, thinking they got bored of his egoistic madness. But Yamamoto stood there, hand risen as if he was going to knock on the door that just opened. Behind him, he noticed Chrome, who looked up to him timidly, and smiled as she saw him.

"Oh, Tsuna! You finally got better!" Apparently, Yamamoto wasn't sharing the same feelings as Gokudera. But he didn't break into his house at night, not to see him.

"Ah, um, yes," He stuttered, embarrassed. "Sorry for that, I…"

"No problem, no problem. We fully understood you felt bad after what happened with the others. But since it's going better now, everything's good ~"

"Yes…"

"However, it's too bad, Gokudera didn't come today. Except for now, he always was with me. Well, he probably couldn't get up; we'll probably see him in class. He'll be happy to see you this lively!"

When the silver head was mentioned, Tsuna bit his lip. He wasn't really sharing the same thoughts as his friends on this item. But he kept himself from doing any remark and fled away, using the fact he had to prepare himself as an excuse.

Later on, when they were on the way of school, he still was thinking of the previous events, not knowing what to do at the idea of going against the disappointed eyes Gokudera would have at one time or another. And this moment came way faster than expected, as the figure of the aforementioned was drawing itself out on the far end of the street. However, the more they approached; the small brunet noticed that something was off in his attitude. Actually, he seemed... just like usual. He even yelled a joyful "Juudaime!" as greeting. Tsuna was confused…

This brutal change of character really confused the brunet during most of the walk, until he had the guts to take his friend apart, leaving the other walk in front of us, to ask him what was happening.

As soon as he asked his question, Gokudera looked down: "It's true that yesterday night… I didn't understand what was going on at all, and with all the worries I had these last days… I exploded. But you had to have your reasons to act that way, and I only thought about it after… sorry."

His interlocutor stopped a bit, submerged by the tolerance his friends gave off, and by the shame he felt for not responding correctly to what they expected from him. No one had asked any question about his shut down, everyone had already forgiven his strange comportment from the previous days. He didn't even know how it was possible that he became so important to them they could embrace everything about him.

But he knew one thing… it was more than heart-warming.

* * *

><p>The day was so calm, for once, that it passed more than quickly. No aggression, no unexpected events, not even the smallest sight of being late to spice their morning a bit.<p>

And not any sign of supernatural presence around Tsuna either. Even though he still had the feeling that, somewhere, the spectre was still there, he didn't manifest in any way since his sudden disappearance. The small brunet couldn't persuade himself that the ghost was definitely gone, even if everything around him was telling it so. He felt like something was missing in him. A loss that only him could choose to fill or not.

"Oï, herbivores."

… But he didn't really have the time to think more about that right now. As they went toward the school's entrance, him, Gokudera and Yamamoto, they encountered a familiar figure, laying lazily against the portal. The Disciplinary Committee's prefect, Hibari Kyoya, was waiting for them and wouldn't let them go till he was finished.

As he saw them approach, the terrible keeper of justice of Nami-chuu had called out to them and, leaving his post, he arrived to them in few steps. As soon as he saw that, Tsuna stiffened. What? What did he want? They got in school on time this morning, and they hadn't do anything ever since that could anger the prefect.

Gokudera was thinking the same, but he expressed his thoughts out loud with a strong voice: "What the hell do you want? Can't we go back home peacefully, now? Is it forbidden by the school's rules too ?"

His insolent tone must have been, alone, a good motive to unleash the wrath of their interlocutor, but the latter didn't seem to care in the slightest. Actually, his target seemed had already been chosen, and the punishment he would inflict on it, too.

"This herbivore, over there," He said in a neutral tone, pointing Tsuna with his chin, "He didn't justify his absences. So no, you won't 'peacefully' go away."

"Eh ?" If he almost fainted when Hibari pointed at him, Tsuna got surprised at the pretext he gave… and found some joy there, as he could maybe go away without being hurt too much. "But Hibari-san… I went to give them this morning…"

The look the prefect laid on him, merciless, and all at once, he felt slightly awkward blurting out his error so… directly. So, he hurried to find the proof of what he was saying in his bag, hoping to appease his unwanted provocation.

However, his good act didn't receive any praise. The other didn't even spared a glance to the paper his junior was showing him. "I know," he simply said, "inadmissible excuse."

W-What? Bewildered, the small brunet let his paper fly out of his grip. Hibari was already stepping down to him, tonfas in hand, declaring he was going to be bitten to death for his negligence. Seriously, what was the point of following the rules, when the committee would, whatever the circumstances, find something to punish him? In the end, Tsuna surprised himself thinking between his panicked pleas and the explanations his friends tried to give him, maybe the elder wanted to get back to the numerous times he couldn't bite him to death, the days when he stayed home wasn't giving him any good excuse to bite him to death for good. As soon as he thought that, he rejected the possibility; it was way too crazy to be true. Even though… Well he didn't even try to understand why he was the favourite target of the violent guys around him anymore.

But, to be honest, he didn't dare verify his hypothesis on today's bully – it would probably diminish his already not-long life.

* * *

><p>The first thing Tsuna saw when he got back to his senses was an afflicted Gokudera, sprawled out on his feet, yelling thousands and thousands of solemn excuses: "I am so sorry Juudaime! Even though I was here, I couldn't keep him from beating you. Everything is my fault! I am sorry! It won't happen again! I am totally, entirely…" He was yelling non-stop, only marking a pause to breathe in – and that wasn't for sure! Also, "Juudaime" soon stopped listening to him, trying to catch up on what he forgot. Not much, apparently. Hibari was gone, and he mustn't have been out cold for long, as they still were in front of the school's entrance. Actually, he was wondering if he really had been out cold, since Gokudera began his excuses even before he snapped back to reality. He must have been in his thoughts few minutes, enough time to receive his 'punishment'.<p>

"Um, it's no problem, Gokudera-kun" He finally said, interrupting the silver head. Darn, his jaw was awfully hurtful… "It's hard to stop Hibari-san once he decided to bite someone to death. I think I couldn't have escaped that in any way, today."

His intervention had, at least, made the young man shut up, even if his face still had this hurted scowl. It was as if it was him who received the hits instead of Tsuna. Not long after that, Yamamoto appeared, he went to search bandages in the infirmary. Once the small brunet got back on his feet, they could finally get out of school.

There was no need to ask where they were going; when they just went through this kind of battle, and that they couldn't go home just like that, they had their little hidden place.

The said 'hidden' place was 'The Bucking Horse', a restaurant-pizzeria where Gokudera was working once in a while. So, they didn't have to make a fuss with the house's boss for, for example, crashing in way before the restaurant's overture or to squat just enough time to heal some wounds.

"Yo! Guys!" A voice greeted from the back of the room as they entered. Not worried a bit to see Gokudera coming even though he didn't have to work, or to see a Tsuna beaten black and blue – well he was worried, but not really surprised – Dino, the other waiter, leaded them to their usual seat, in the back of the room, and made themselves home.

Well, it wasn't like it was already a bit like their home, here.

Just the time to dry off – to _break – _some glasses – the trio had heard the crashing sound of dying plates and the curses that came with it – and the blond joined them:

"Sorry, the boss wanted to go buy something before the overture; I don't have much to offer meanwhile… Ah! But there's probably some food from yesterday left, do I re-heat them for you?"

"It's okay… I'll do it myself," Gokudera said standing up.

He had understood the boss wasn't there: Dino wasn't capable of doing anything right when he wasn't there, for a reason that confused everyone. But he could be a really good cooker, and a top-notch waiter when he wanted it.

"Come on, come on ~ You're not to work today. Plus, I still can re-heat some pasta!"

… But the worst, the WORST… Was that he seemed totally oblivious of his extreme clumsiness.

"You'd be capable of burning them, you stupid horse! And Romario would kill us if something happened in the kitchen."

"You're over exaggerating… Also, I still don't know why you call me that. You know, the horse, it's the resto's logo, not my surname…"

"You have as much brain as a stupid horse, that's why. And I still doubt that sometimes. Well, now, don't move a centimetre; _I_ will re-heat the food, okay?"

Before the elder could retort anything, the silver head dashed to the kitchen to lock the door. Dino thus had no choice but go back to their seat, and to chat a bit with the two others, while Yamamoto was taking care of Tsuna's wounds.

* * *

><p>Later that day, Dino went to Tsuna to walk him home. Gokudera and Yamamoto were already gone, but the small brunet didn't want to go back at the same time – he didn't want to worry his mother with his face full of bandages, that's what he said. His companions thus made the blond promise he would walk their friend home, and had to wait for the end of the service.<p>

But that wasn't a bad thing. At least, he was able to put his thoughts back in order. He greatly and frequently needed that recently.

"Okay, let's go." The elder said, as he gathered his stuff. "Ready?"

Tsuna nodded and stood up. They exited the restaurant silently; the younger trying to make a void of what was worrying him so he could pass back to his 'conversation' mode, now that he wasn't alone with himself anymore.

Nevertheless, his friend didn't hear it that way, as they only stepped out that he began to interrogate him:

"So" He said as if he was waiting for that from the beginning of the evening. "What if you told me about what was wrong?"

The teenager stopped a bit, surprised by this brutal approach. Out of instinct, he replied with negation: "E-eh? What do you mean, Dino-san?"

"Don't try to hide it, it's way too obvious for that… You almost ate nothing tonight, when you're supposed to love Italian food. And Gokudera said it wasn't all happy lately."

"A-Ah… Gokudera-kun said that…"

It was true his friend had been under everything because of him, this past week… After today, it seemed it was already past story to them, but it was actually still on the menu.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it…" Dino continued, understanding.

"N-No! It's okay. It's true that… There _is_ something…"

So he began to talk. A lot, with difficulty, stumbling over words, but in the end, he said everything about the events and his recent impressions. Even on the things he hadn't said to his best friends. He didn't know why he was telling that to him in peculiar when he still was shutting out the others about that; maybe he just needed another point of view, more mature, about this whole story.

When he finally finished, they were getting in front of Tsuna's house. Dino, who had kindly not interrupted him, could finally say what he thought about this:

"Well, listen," He said, looking a bit sheepish for reasons Tsuna couldn't identify, "It's what I said many times to Gokudera… I understand you can be interested in that, the occult, the surnatural stuff… It's teenager's things, I passed through that too, and not so long ago. It can sometimes make troubling experiences, but if you take another look at it, you can find more… plausible explanations, if you can separate your imagination and your rationality."

"It's not that the occult interest me… But you're telling me everything I told you doesn't exist? Well, not _really_?"

"Well… All in one, that's it. As crazy as it can seem in this situation, it's what I think. And you'll see, the more you don't think about it, the more you'll see nothing never _really_ happened. Simply coincidences and your mind's composition.

So, he was going in the same way Tsuna was going at the beginning, even if his intuition was saying otherwise – but with the plus he already took partake in similar experiences, and got away with that conclusion. Somewhat, his speech was reassuring. It meant he didn't have to worry too much about it, it would pass with time.

The new idea strengthening him up, he thanked and waved at his counsellor, who was going away, telling him to come whenever something was wrong. But right now, Tsuna was feeling absolutely well, even better than the beginning of this whole fiasco. He watched him get away, heart light, and, sure that his resolution was a good one, he plunged his arm in his bag to search for keys, completely at ease. He even formulated his resolution out loud, entirely convinced.

Alas, when he looked up, _he_ was there. Lazily lying against his door, arm crossed against his chest, and had a presence way more realistic, palpable than the previous day. His smirk and his mocking eyes made the brunet freeze.

"Oya oya~ So just like that, you decided to forget about me, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"


	3. Chapter 3

_( 04/01/2015 ) - metric system_

_Salve !_

_This is L. Ilovu writing ~ Everyone, thanks a lot for the reviews and the likes and the favorite, and the alert and all you did to show us that you liked this translation ! If you were in front of me, I'd given you great buckets overflowing with love and passion ! _

_My exams begins in no more than three days, and I haven't finished the translation of the fourth chapter, I hope I'll be on time to deliver it to you in two weeks. I hope to everyone you had a great Christmas & Winter Holidays ~_

_Without wasting any more time than I already did, let's continue on the reply to our dear guests review !_

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><p><em> <strong>Replies to our princesses and kitty ~<strong>_

_**Hime : **We wish to thank you for the interest you give to the story :) And we also hope that this chapter will please you ~ :3_

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer<em>**

_Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano_

_The Solitude's Flame ( **La Flamme de la Solitude** )'s original idea belongs to Y._

_L. was given the rights to translate!_

**_This chapter didn't get correction, wrong/bad grammar ahead_**

**_._**

_The next chapter should be up in two weeks! ( 18/01/2015 - metric system )_

_(: Enjoy :)_

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><p><em>He came back. <em>HE CAME BACK!

Panicked at the sudden apparition of the spirit, just as he decided to _definitely_ forget about him, Tsuna ran away. Where? He didn't know exactly. Each doors he passed, he thought he was seeing the shadow of the ghost – even though it was only his imagination, this time – which was encouraging him to continue his run. In the end, he was out of breath, in the middle of nowhere, not knowing what to do.

He didn't understand what he had to do. Sure he had messed up their first encounter, but the later didn't seem to want to give him another chance, since he didn't come up ever again after that. And just as he blamed it on his imagination, he took the time to come back? What did he want, in the end? Wouldn't it be easier for the two of them if he simply said what he had to say, so they could get out of this situation?

Okay. First, calm down. It wouldn't help anything if he continued on running like that, without any goal, just like a scared mouse. The other didn't seem to follow him till now – or at least not while he was visible – and not feeling his presence helped Tsuna gather himself up. He breathed in and decided to look around him, to see where he was. Good. He recognized the street, at least. It was really stupid of him to have acted like that. But what else could he have done- enter his home as if nothing was wrong? His mind would have tortured him all night, even if his stalker had the great thought of leaving – and nothing said he would have done it. And now he was gone, he didn't feel like going back.

But on one hand, in the middle of the night… would he dare repeat the same error as the day before? But on the other hand, he was only seeing this solution, if he wanted to sleep peacefully.

He didn't think about it anymore and walked toward the only door who would open for him in such circumstances.

* * *

><p>Of course, when he rang the bell, it was once again Gokudera who opened the door. Sleepy, he took a little bit of time to recognize the one in front of him, but when the picture got to his brain, he seemed to be wide awake… and he didn't seem so glad to repeat the same scenario as the day before.<p>

Tsuna thought the same thing as he saw his face. Thus, he even tried to make a more tactful entrance:

"Hum, Gokudera-kun. I'm sorry to come up like that _again_ but… I have another thing to ask to… your sister…"

However, it of course had to be, whichever tone he put in his voice wouldn't work. The boy at the door wouldn't budge for such little excuse this time.

Even though he didn't let himself explode like the day before, he seemed close to that very same state, and he stayed where he was, not saying a word. Obviously, he wouldn't let him enter before knowing more.

But… Tsuna _really_ needed to enter.

"Go-Gokudera-kun?" He tried nonetheless. Maybe it would help…

"I don't really know what you like in her, but you know, you don't have to court in the middle of the night," Gokudera grumbled as only reply.

"E-eh?"

"And also, you could tell me, at least. I live with her, you know, I could even help you. You didn't think of that, did you?"

In front of the beginning – or was it the prolongation? – of this shady misunderstanding, Tsuna decided to clear all the suspicions right off the bat.

"Um… Gokudera-kun, I don't see what you're talking about at all. I'm just here to…"

"You're still denying it?"

However, the other seemed ready to explode.

"It's okay" He continued. "I understood what you wanted. What I don't understand, it's why you didn't tell us about it. We're not your friends anymore, is that it?"

"It isn't, but…"

Thus, Tsuna felt guilty once again. Even though Gokudera wasn't talking about the same thing as he did – he didn't really understood what he was talking about, by the way – his words could also be used for the real situation.

"It's just… I couldn't," He simply said, looking down at his feet.

These words seemed to appease his interlocutor… But only for a moment. Why, he would have replied, not understanding in any way why their friend wanted to hide that, wanted to deal with it alone, without leaving them any chance to help…

However, instead, Bianchi came up in his back, probably dragged around by the noises they made at the front door, and not letting any chances to his brother to say anything again, she grabbed his arm and pushed him inside.

"Hayato. Let him go inside."

By instinct, the silver head struggled, not wanting to, but when he noticed the worried expression of the young woman, he stopped immediately. After all, it wasn't every day you could see her with such an expression, and without a good reason. So, even though he felt being left out of something important, it only needed one more plea from his sister; "Hayato…", for him to let the brunet enter.

On the other hand, Tsuna was observing the exchange, perplex. He focused on Bianchi as soon as he saw her approach, but the frightened look she suddenly had when she looked at him panicked him a little. Out of instinct he had looked over his own shoulder, believing the entity was back. There was nothing, though – which didn't refrain him from shivering, panicking again.

Luckily, she managed to invite him; he did so without a word. But as he was leaded to the living room, he got a glimpse of Gokudera going the other way, head hanging down, churning on his anger without a doubt; he felt as if it was his chance to help him a little bit.

As he turned toward his friend, he felt his trembling stop a little.

"Hum… Gokudera-kun?"

The other stopped, unsure. Then turned.

"Y-You're not coming to the living room with us?"

Of course not. He wouldn't have come by himself, respecting the secret of the brunet, even though he didn't like it. But thanks to this question, which was actually an invitation, Tsuna integrated him in the problem, and that's what he had been wanting since the previous day.

When he deciphered the message, he seemed not to believe it at first. The anger still not wiped from his face made place to a huge surprised one; he had let go of any hope at that point. After all that happened, he didn't even dare think he would still have what he asked for with such spite.

The brunet patiently waited for him to make a decision. He had thrown his question without thinking twice about it, but whatever, when he thought about it, he didn't really have anything to hide anymore. If he didn't say anything at first, it was because he feared not to be understood, especially from Gokudera: the phenomenon would have excited him more than worried him, and he didn't need that at the time. This said, with their previous row, his friend would push his passion on the side to help him without a doubt. Without saying that, loving it, he probably had some knowledge in the occult. Two initiated to these type of case instead of one to help, it could probably help him even more.

So, he kept on observing Gokudera's reaction, a timid smile drawn on his lips. He hoped with all his might that he would accept his attempt to fix his indelicate clumsiness, and that he would follow him to the living room.

And, indeed, an explosion full of joy seemed to devour the boy's face, who nodded excitedly, and both of them went out of the entrance, minds appeased. Good. Now that it was done, Tsuna only had to worry of the big problem he had: the ghost's persistence.

When they finally joined her, Bianchi didn't make any comment on the time they took back there, nor on the new presence of his brother; it was for Tsuna to decide, after all. However, she frowned once again when the brunet entered her vision. Thus, once they sat down, she invited him with a nod to explain why he was here. For the second time that day, Tsuna did so, explaining everything from the very beginning for Gokudera, who didn't know it, yet. Thankfully for him, this one didn't seem so excited about his recent adventures, even though he couldn't help a hiccup out of surprise and that he felt obligated to ask every single details about the entity's manifestation. But in the end, his thinking traits showed he wasn't interest in the phenomenon by itself, too concentrated on the possible solutions to the mess he put his friend through – as he estimated he had a huge responsibility in this case, it was thus his duty to help him.

Quite reassured by that, Tsuna finished his tale by questioning Bianchi about what he had to do: since the entity had appeared two time in a row, it was beginning to scare him. He had to do something, quick, and not only search for useless pieces of information the ghost didn't seem to want to give him anyway.

"True," she confirmed after a long silence. "The first time, at your place, I also had felt something's presence."

"Wh-What?!" Gokudera exclaimed.

He never had heard about that. Not only Tsuna, but his sister had felt something weird from the very beginning? Why didn't she say anything? Unlike the small brunet, she had enough experience to say if their calling had worked or not. Why did she always repeat that it had failed, then?

"Calm down, Hayato," The elder said, already seeing the flood of questions coming from her brother. "If I didn't say anything, it was because, even though it was there from the beginning, the spirit always refused to show itself. I didn't want to force him or excite you for nothing. Anyway, when Tsuna came yesterday night, it confirmed my thoughts of it not coming to speak to us, but only to speak to _one_ of us."

At this point, she paused. Tsuna drank from every word she said, waiting for the next part. Until now, he didn't learn anything new – he had guessed a little bit that she invocation wasn't a failure, since she didn't seem all too surprised when he told her about it.

She took the time to take sips of her coffee, on the table, before continuing – when she put her drink back on the wood, her expression had changed. It was now the same as it was when she noticed Tsuna at the entrance.

"However, tonight, your aura changed," She said, turning to the brunet. "As soon as I saw you, I could identify the thing that was following you. It's why I asked Hayato to let you in."

When she mentioned that, Gokudera looked down, guilty, and Tsuna threw an nth look behind him. When he turned around, and sawing nothing, he shivered when Bianchi nodded to confirm that: yes, it was still there, even if he couldn't feel it.

"However," She said, "I don't have any other advice than continuing to try to open the dialog. It's the only 'soft' method I know."

The only soft method…? Tsuna almost asked more, but contained himself. If she didn't speak about it yet, it was because it was better to focus on the better solution, right? The 'hard' method she was implying… No, it was better if he didn't ask, too worried of the consequences it could have. Moreover, if the spectre came to him for a reason, he wouldn't chase it away because he couldn't understand what he wanted. After all, it was him who didn't stop failing at it: if he wasn't such an idiot or if he didn't try to ignore it, maybe he would already know how to gently settle the problem down. Even though it was dead and that he didn't know him at all, he didn't want to reject it, or have a lack of respect toward it. Even when he was keeping it from sleeping in peace. The other didn't open fire or hate, and it didn't seem that mean or seemed to want his misery; well! It wouldn't be him who would be the mean one first. It was a big no-no.

"And if…" Gokudera intervened, breaking off the intern debate of the small brunet. "Well, I don't know if it's good for, but couldn't we try an invocation, just like last time, but only to ask it to go away?"

Ah. Do the first step? True, Tsuna didn't think about it. Until now, he always waited for the signs to come to him.

So it could work?

"It could work," Bianchi replied, echoing his thoughts. "Maybe."

Actually, she was pretty sceptical about this plan's success, but they didn't know much about the entity… Whichever was the result, they didn't have anything to loose. As the two boys would concentrate on making it go, she would concentrate on the reason of its presence. Thus, if it wanted to speak more than going away, maybe they'd have a chance.

At this idea, she stood up to take a small glass, and bend down to put it on the table…

At the same moment when the item caressed the wood's surface, it exploded, literally, making some shards tear up Bianchi's hand and arm.

The two boys panicked after that. Thankfully, she thought, the bewilderment made them mute. As for her, she only jumped. True these kind of things weren't really good signs, but it could happen, the only thing was not to let stress invade you.

Not caring about the blood running down her arm, she stood up to take another glass. However, this time, she stopped right before putting it on the wood. She looked up, and gave the object to Tsuna.

The latter, till now, crooked up in the sofa, blinked like crazy. What? With what happened… she wanted _him_ to do it?

No. Way.

"It was you the spirit choose to follow. It'll probably speak to you more easily, without anything else."

It was Bianchi's only argument, she didn't budge. However, even if she did seemed quite assured, there was still too much incertitude in these words for Tsuna.

But noticing everyone was waiting for him, eyes on him, and that they would go forward as long as he refused it, he resigned and grabbed the glass.

He kept it a moment against himself, not daring to put it on the table, afraid to repeat the explosion. And, apparently, when he decided himself, other shards exploded on the table. But, this time, not any of those cutting pieces dared to approach the brunet's small hand. And the glass had waited few seconds before exploding, as if it was pondering.

Coincidence? To Bianchi, it was impossible.

As the brunet was frightened, and was even more because of the phenomenon, that he was holding his hand as if it was going to fall, cursed, the young woman stayed pretty calm when she shared her conclusions:

"Ok, it was that… Tsuna."

When he was called, the boy looked up with worried eyes. He seemed completely lost.

"This spirit doesn't want to hurt you. Even if it is violent and [farouche] in front of the others, we just got the proof."

To illustrate her words, she held her own hand up, wounded. Then she went away, to wash her blood, continuing her explanation from the kitchen:

"For now, it isn't dangerous. Not for you, at least. If you want to, things can stay this way."

She came back some minutes later. A bandage was running down her arm, and merely seeing it terrorized the small brunet.

"You just have to wait for it to come back to speak to you. And when it'll happen, you can ask if it's got a message for you. That's maybe why it can't go away."

Just like a tilt, this hypothesis made his trembling stop. A message for him? So the ghost wasn't there because it felt like it, but because of him? Because it had something to say?

Suddenly, things felt guiltier than panicking for Tsuna. But in the same time, it could have done what he had to do, and leave him alone. Had he another reason to stay?

… When he came back home, that night, he didn't really what he was supposed to do. Finally, he didn't have a new solution, stuck in the waiting.

There still was work to do, for him to get out of this mess.

* * *

><p>Tsuna was tranquilly studying in his room. He surprised himself doing so more and more often, these times – maybe because it distracted him from his other worries. Now, he had a hard time with a math calculus, his eternal nemesis, but he felt a shiver run down his spine.<p>

Ah. There was the signal.

He looked up to see the spectre, its figure become clearer and clearer in front of him, elbow against the table.

The phenomenon didn't surprise him. Since his last visit at Bianchi's, it happened a lot. Almost each time he was alone, actually, he saw a transparent figure. However, they never did talk much again, all these apparitions being a quick stay.

But this time, the other was showing himself more clearly. His body was almost completely in sight. Tsuna deducted he intended to stay longer, today. Actually, it was his first question, as a salute:

"Oh. You feel like chatting a bit, today?"

"Yes," The other simply said, ignoring the small irritation in the brunet's voice. It's because, since the other day, he didn't have any reply, and if his repeated manifestation had helped him get used to his presence, he was determined to find a way to make him free from following him. It would be better, for the both of them.

His eternal amused face stuck on his traits, the ghost laid his head in his hands.

"So, which question do you want to begin with?"

Yes. It was true that questions, he had a lot of them. He began with the simplest of them all:

"Can I call you by your name?"

For that one, a surprised expression showed itself on the dead's face. Only one second, because it morphed back to a mysterious smile, but Tsuna could clearly see it. Maybe he expected him to ask something more… vital, important first. But the small brunet didn't think about it without at least knowing his name. And then, it would be more comfortable to speak with him.

"Rokudo Mukuro," the other said, as if it was an avowal. "But I don't know why you're interested in my name, as you'd like me to leave so badly."

This is not the question, he wanted to retort. Even though he really wanted him to strop haunting him, they passed quite a long time together, already, even if they didn't want it. And it wouldn't stop soon – they could at least try to get to know each other. They would have some stuff to speak about, at least.

But Tsuna didn't feel he was strong enough to say him that. Of course, he was still not so sure, too timid, in front of this presence. Thus, nervous, he left the questions haunting him on the side. Only the time for him not to be nervous, to satisfy his curiosity, more like, his curiosity inspired by Gokudera:

"Hum… Is it your real appearance, there?"

"What? Don't you trust your own eyes? Put some glasses on."

"No but… Did you like that, before… Before?"

"Probably. But I can change, if you want me to. Would you like a cute girl instead? Like, hum, what's her name again, K-..."

"No!... It'll be alright… You're young, then?"

"I'm not sure I'm able to reply to that."

"Why?"

"Kufufu~"

"Okay… How do you see the world?"

"Blurry. Or not. Depends of my mood."

"Do you communicate with other entities?"

"No, they're dumb."

"Can you do my math calculus?"

"No. Don't push your luck too far, either."

Tsuna couldn't help but smiling at the reply to his stupid question. Actually, even for his previous replies, quick and mocking, he didn't know if Mukuro was serious or if he was laughing at his face. However, it wasn't such an important thing – he was more relaxed, now… Enough to ask the important question?

"And… Do you have something… to tell me?"

To these words, only a short silence replied. The spectre's smiles was tainted with [lassitude]

"Ah… I thought a lot of this question, since the scorpion lady asked you."

He must have been speaking of Bianchi. Why this surname, mystery. Tsuna didn't care much for now, listening to the following reply.

"It seems that yes."

So it was a message.

"However, even if you asked me what it was, I couldn't give it to you."

Huh? Why? He wasn't ready, or something like that? That's why he didn't tell him from the very beginning? What did he had to do, then?

"Actually, it seems I forgot it. I don't know at all what the message's about, even if I know there is one."

…

Err…

Okay, so to have his message and get the ghost back to his home, Tsuna _just_ had to make an amnesiac dead recover his memory.

… What was this stupid situation?

"Seriously…?" He lamented out loud. "How will we do, then?"

"No idea."

The other didn't seem panicked or embarrassed about that, which was worrying the small brunet. The situation was pretty important, wasn't it? Couldn't he be worried at least a little?

"However, I can deliver a message of another guy. I think that what I had to say to you was pretty important, because since I forgot I am… different. I have some small crazy breaks out. Till now, I kept myself away from it, more or less, but it could become dangerous in not so long, even for you. It would be such a shame if you died before I recover my memory, now, wouldn't it?~"

… So. The situation was _even worse_ than he had imagined it. And Mukuro was saying that, as if it was nothing. Did he just think about how he was making him feel?

It was depressing. Everything was depressing.

* * *

><p>Ah, yes, now Tsuna understood what Mukuro meant by "Small crazy break out." Actually, it was more like "unleash of the hoodoo," for him.<p>

As soon as the sun rose the next day, it had begun. A flowerpot falling from a balcony right on his head, a truck without a driver getting out of the road right where he was walking, a trumpet sound coming out of nowhere just when he tried to sneak his way past his bullies – who weren't afraid of him anymore, by now. Also, there was this insane aura he felt around him, as if it was his. Aura that changed just in the end, warmed up, and the flowerpot exploded, the truck went the other way. Okay, for the delinquents that began to hit him, he couldn't do much. But it sucked that the ghost began both his guardian and his torturer. Tsuna didn't really know what to do with this poltergeist right in the middle of teenage angst.

And the worst, the _worst_! It was that once he came back from his terrible day, the ghost dared appear, just like that, just to chat a bit.

And the day after, and the day even after that day, the exact same schema repeated itself.

Well, even if hell became his regular day – which wasn't really relaxing already – Tsuna didn't have the heart to refuse the small talk when he came to chat, happy, with him. In his 'normal' state, he still was supportable, and these moments calmer were keeping up for the rest.

So, he took his chance to learn more about him. Maybe that by speaking to him, he would find his message. Maybe. At worst, it made the time pass. They chatted every night, now, especially of useless subjects, just as if Mukuro was still _alive_. These little interludes in his life that became palpitating and rhythmic seemed to relieve them both.

Thus he learned how the entity had met them, for the first time: when they had to do their courage test in Kokuyo Land, which seemed to be years apart from now. When Tsuna had repeated that to Gokudera – all of his friends knew, now, they could speak more freely – this one had been all happy to learn that, in the end, they _did_ meet real ghosts that night. At least, he was the only one who lived the situation quite well…

He also knew more about his link to Chrome – at this subject, it was Mukuro himself who began onto it, asking how she was doing. They were cousins, but they didn't see each other before he faded away. On her side, she was the only family he still knew, but he refused to show himself in front of her, pretending she wasn't ready. He didn't even know if she knew he was dead.

Except for these few information that were pretty important, most of their conversation were ordinary, and talked of supernatural. But one day, when he couldn't help himself anymore, Tsuna asked the question which burned his lips to be asked:

"Mukuro-san, do you want to go?"

He had dropped that one during a silence, giving off a more serious tone about the current debate. He didn't really know how to approach the subject, never finding any good moment, which explained his grand entrance, direct and tactless. But he had to ask. Away from the danger he was in, himself, being the victim of the 'bad' Mukuro, he was worried for the ghost, too. Even if he enjoyed their talking, Tsuna always remembered that he wasn't there by his own will, but for him. For his message.

But the message… Tsuna could live without it. He didn't need to hold onto it. Nor stay.

"Well, I-I mean…" He continued, seeing the other didn't reply. "For the message, it's no big deal, you know. We can't help it if you can't give it to me. So… If you want to go, you can. I think it would be better for you."

"Oya? You're throwing me away, then?"

Confused to this mocking retort to his serious words, Tsuna took some time to reply.

"No… Just, I… worry?"

"For your life?"

"And for yours, too."

There, it was the ghost's turn to be confused. He blinked, perplex… before laughing with a frank and charming laugh. Seeing his reaction, Tsuna got frustrated. What, what did he say wrong? Okay, it was a bit weird to worry about a dead's life, but he couldn't help it, that's how he felt!

Before he could make any protest, his interlocutor became serious again. More like, became serious.

"No. I refuse. I'm staying."

* * *

><p>Far, very far away, another situation, way more serious, was bringing the atmosphere down. Frowning upon papers scribbled with worrying news was somebody with a dangerous aura. His interlocutor, sitting in front of him, patiently waited till he finished his reading before expressing himself:<p>

"Do you understand know why I'm seeking help from your organisation?"

The other put the papers back on the table, a dark look on his face.

"Yes. In any way, your family is still pretty close to ours. I came in person because I knew something big would happen. You never seek our help lightly."

"Do you think it needs an intervention, then?"

"It's a possibility. But I have to see that by myself, first."

As his interlocutor turned around, ready to go, the sitting man let these lasts words slips, frowning:

"In this case, I also give you a white card, concerning _this person_. Even if it might not be to his liking... Do your best.

The other opened the door – "As always" – and went away.

He had to go as fast as he could; a long journey was awaiting.


	4. Chapter 4

_( 18/01/2015 ) - metric system_

_Salve !_

_This is L. Ilovu writing ~ Let's give a huge thanks to Mazura for leaving a review to the last chapter ! ( Sorry we didn't reply to you, by the way, except for our thanks, we had nothing much to say *love* ) I finished translating this chapter a bit in a rush, but I managed to get it done in time, hurray ~_

_As I don't have any personal comment to add here, we'll just pass on, for those who are actually bothering reading this, haha ~_

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><p><strong><em>No guests review ~<em>**

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer<em>**

_Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano_

_The Solitude's Flame ( **La Flamme de la Solitude **)'s original idea belongs to Y._

_L. was given the right to translate!_

**_Prepare buckets of blood, this chapter hasn't been beta'ed_**

**_._**

_Next chapter should be up in two weeks ~ ! ( 01/02/2015 - metric system )_

_(: Enjoy :)_

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><p>Namimori, in the morning. Not even a breeze on the streets of the residential neighbour, not anything, except for this shady figure walking slowly, his shoes hitting the ground.<p>

He was watching every movement, every detail around him, analysing the location, impregnating himself with the atmosphere.

His step finally stopped; his mission was about to begin. Thinking of that, he looked up to the house in front of which he stood, and guessed he was in front of the good one.

Yes. Everything began here. It would be his starting point.

Without leaving the house out of his sight, he went and hid between the branches of a bushy tree, from where he could perfectly see the door he targeted.

And he waited.

He stayed there few hours, unmoving, silent. Some passerby entered his view range. They didn't see him, and he didn't pay more attention to them. They didn't have any of what he was looking for.

And then, finally, after maybe two or three hours patiently endured in silence, two new figure made their entrance. They went up to the door he was watching, and rang while happily chatting - or animatedly arguing, it was kind for hard to determine as one was overflowing with gnarl and the other one was giving off radiant smiles.

Their presence made the one who was spying them raise an eyebrow. The info-brokers seemed to have forgotten few details in their report. But he didn't blame them, those 'details' wouldn't be really useful for the mission he was required to accomplish. A priori.

Speaking of which, few seconds later, the famous door opened, making him forget about the two 'details' lately noticed. A young man just came out of it, rushing, his uniform being a mess, and a bit of his breakfast still in his mouth. He seemed to excuse himself to the two others, and the trio soon ran off.

The figure in the tree looked at the apparently innocent scene with concentration, worried. Detailing his target for the first time, he put some pictures on the alarming words of the report he had between his hands. It said that there was some perturbation that had for a epicentre the teenager looking frail and not so smart, the one he had under his eyes. And, indeed, for someone of this mysterious figure's level, the whole report could be summarized in one glance: the dark and cold aura around the kid couldn't fool anyone.

Although, while he was noting how dangerous this energy was, one of his instinct made him quit the branch that served him as a perch, and just in time; said branch, as long as the other ones, began to shiver like wild animals - and it certainly wasn't the wind, that, by the way, didn't blow - and, under his eyes, and those branch snorted to free themselves of their leaves, revealing sharpened stakes absolutely not natural. Stakes that, now out of their trunk, converged awfully fast, deadly, toward his target.

A cry of an incontestable virility rose, and, in the end, the stakes hit the ground, right at the feet of the one they went to kill.

Weird...

The phenomenon, if it seemed to have nearly given a heart stroke to his target, didn't seem to surprise him more than that once it was over. Once the shock passed and the worries of his friends concerning his well-being appeased, he only seemed to be jaded and bored about what happened. He even went off and took the branch with a tired gesture to throw them into the closest bin.

So, it must have been a recurring event in this boy's daily days, deducted the one who was now following him on his school's path. Himself wasn't that impressed concerning what just happened - seeing the lifestyle he led, murder's tentative of this ilk were barely bad jokes to him. However, for a mere civilian, he guessed it must have been quite traumatising. But it seemed that his target had already passed over the 'mere civilian' title.

This said, even though the actions he saw weren't that maddening themselves, he felt that he would have to act for everything to go back in order. And quite fast, if possible. The aura around the small brunet that wasn't belonging to him - no doubt on that, he was hawk-eyed on this - was too strong and malicious to be ignored.

Nevertheless, he choose to use his work-free day at observing in the distance, just like he planned it, before preparing everything for him to make a grand entrance. And it was all the better because, as the day, the classes and the caprices of the poltergeist, he noticed something new. Something way more surprising than usual, as it was observed on a 'mere civilian'.

But, alright, he already had judged this kid over the civilian status.

Well, even though he could have relativized the thing, thinking back to the complementary information given by his informant, the spy didn't hold back a huge smile from settling down on his lips. Now, every theorical information that was communicated was finding a material body under his eyes, in the person he was following : the danger he had to eliminate, and the brunet's identity, that was giving itself away in a vast and warm aura, orange, that was dancing around the small body, just like scrolls of crazy smoke. An energy only waiting for its liberation, already awakened, which was a paradox since it was because of the black shadow slowly eating it out.

Definitely, this boy wasn't a civilian.

And it wasn't really a surprise that the spirit wasn't letting go of him, if he possessed such a flame...

And... It was really a shame that, him, had been sent to end all of this.

Tsuna came back from school quite in a good mood that day. Indeed, Mukuro only tried to kill him three or four times, today. It changed from the twenty-ish tries a day. Plus, he had to see the bright side of this : he was more and more able to anticipate what the spirit was about to do - he was feeling it, in a way. Ah, and he became sharper at dodging random projectiles that was thrown to him, too.

Thus, he saluted his mother with a less jaded voice than usual, and went up the stairs to go to his room, ready to possibly welcome the appearance of his dead stalker - the 'possibly' being only in this sentence to be polite, as he knew the spirit was coming every day. He didn't have any reason to stop doing so.

However, when he stepped on the first stair, someone rang the doorbell.

He abruptly turned around, and looked at the wooden panel, wondering who that might be. Then he walked to it to open it.

Peeking outside, he was surprised to meet nothing. Shrugging, and thinking it only was a bad joke, he decided to go back, so he was about to close…

-Ciaossu.

… when a weird salutation made him look down. He raised an eyebrow, perplex, as he took a good look at the… baby?

Strangely dressed, his spiky black hair that must have been sticking into place with the same antigravity force that was acting the very same way on his own unruly hair. Two capillary spirals bouncing around his chubby cheeks and a small smile way too insolent for his age.

-Hum… Did you get lost, kid? Suddenly asked the brunet, as he realized he could have gone way for few rounds more till he got at the end of the list of the reasons why this kid was strange.

-I don't think so, replied the clear voice of the newcomer, am I at Sawada's? Are you Sawada Tsunayoshi?

-… Y-Yes, said the concerned, his curiosity spiked, and even more confused. What did anyone want to do with him in peculiar? Especially someone he didn't know?

The kid didn't take long to give him his answer, presenting himself at the same time.

-Good. I am Reborn, an exorcist.

He held up a small card were his identity was scribbled down, and the teen took it, blinking.

-An… exorcist?

What was this bad prank? An accomplice of Mukuro, that was actually a hitman and that he was about to bring up a pistol out of nowhere to shove it right between his two eyes before pulling the trigger?

The baby did nothing of these, however, holding himself back from giving any complementary explanation about his presence, just as if it was natural that Tsuna question his presence here. And, indeed, YES! It was absolutely normal, legitimate and justified!

-Yes, began the childish voice, absolutely not concerned about the gaping mouth of the other. Someone reported the presence of an evil spirit under this roof and, out of magnanimity, I came to the rescue.

Tsuna couldn't believe him. And many questions were appearing into his brain. First, what was doing this… this… exorcist? At his house? He didn't ask for anything. Especially not a stranger that wasn't really giving off the 'trust me' vibe, especially by the way he just presented himself. Plus, how did he know? Okay, this visit could be totally hazardous, a mere coincidence, but the young man guessed it was not. But then, did someone follow him, denounced him, or what? It couldn't be his friends, he was convinced of that, but then again, it was the only persons that knew what was happening.

And about this 'evil spirit'… Well, okay, seeing it from another point of view, Mukuro could be qualified as 'evil' by much more than one aspect; but, still… Why the hell was he thinking about all of that just in front of a mere baby?!

Breaking out of his thoughts, he looked back at the infant, determined.

-Yes, well then, no thanks. There's no problem in this house. You can go play elsewhere, kid, He spit, a bit irritated, before simply closing the door right in the nose of the young visitor. He had other things to do than play a stupid neighbourhood brat's game.

Tsuna thus went back to the stairs, his light hear a bit gone, ignoring the door on which the baby decided to knock regularly. However, only was he comfortably installed at the table in his room that he heard his mother's voice at the entrance's corridor:

-Araaa Tsu-kun~ ! Who's this infant at the door? One of your friends?

-No! he yelled from upstairs, wishing to have peace once in his life.

-Yes, the brat replied, in the same time – he got tensed when he heard the cursed voice once again. I am Reborn, an exorcist coming from the Arcobaleno's Order.

Really? What an imagination… to invite himself at people's house!

-Aaah, I see. Look at how cute you are in your suit~ Do you want to come in and drink tea?

-I'll take coffee instead.

… And he made himself home, too! Tsuna didn't remember when his house became a restaurant, where everybody could go in and order what they wanted. And also, coffee, for a baby? Was he the only sane person under this roof?

Well, maybe he was not, once he thought about it: he was being stalked by a dead, after all. But he had to have more common sense than the two others reunited, who were still happily chatting at the entrance, ignoring him completely.

You wanted proof? Here it was: - Okay ~ You can go upstairs meanwhile, purred his mother's voice before going back to the kitchen.

Thus, this was how he finished face to face with some weirdo called Reborn in his room, who was calmly sipping his coffee and eating small cakes. Not that he didn't try to keep him from coming to his room.

After quite a long moment of never-ending silence, where the baby only drank, apparently giving all his heart in this activity, he put his cup back into place and spoke. He repeated the same speech than the one in front of the door, except for the fact that he seemed more grave than mischievous. Tsuna was honestly doubting that an infant could speak with such a dark and serious tone.

Without noticing, he still accorded more credibility to the exorcist. More than he did earlier.

He listened the baby in silence, how it was important for the spirit that stuck to him – he didn't speak about the house this time but Tsuna himself – to go away, since he was obviously dangerous. And all the more since that, from his observation, that entity had been haunting the young man for a long, long time. It had had the time to root himself deeply in this world thanks to his host, which was never good if no one was controlling the spirit.

At this information, Tsuna blinked. Huh? A long time? Reborn seemed to speak about some years.

Understanding this, he interrupted him immediately:

-But, err-… No. I mean, it can't be true, what you said. On the long time…

-What do you mean?- the other frowned, surprised.

-Mukuro-san… The spirit. He's been here only for few days. Two weeks, I think. Yeah, two weeks at the maximum.

How?

Reborn stayed shut few seconds, troubled. A quick glance at his interlocutor confirmed his diagnostic: the two energy dancing around the small body were too mixed for the fusion to be that recent. To his veteran's eye, this must have been long from many years, at least. For such a link to be formed…

However, the detail that was annoying him from the day before, if he only listened to his instinct, he estimated the link to be formed – it was a confusing information; and he loathed confusions – to be way older from what the logic could accept.

The boy was fifteen years old.

Was the link capable to go back to a date prior to his birth? – In theory, no, it wasn't.

So, it meant only one thing: the ghost had implanted itself like a parasite, and so deep that his presence felt like it was eternal. It was more or less never seen before, but it was less impossible than the rest of his hypothesises. But, in this case, it was dangerous. Obviously. Or at least, if the concerned person didn't know the good techniques. And looking at the dark aura trying to dominate the orange one, the kid didn't have any technical or theoretical knowledge about the occult.

As he got lost into his thoughts and hypothesis, Tsuna anxiously watched him. His guest was looking toward him but didn't seem to see him, at least not physically, and he was sometimes grumbling incomprehensible sentences to himself.

After this only did Mukuro, who took his time that evening – probably because of the foreigner's presence, - appear. Despite the situation, and the fact that the said foreigner was after him, Tsuna felt glad to see the ghost. Ah, and his appearance had drawn Reborn out of his thoughts.

"Kufufu ~ Don't loose any more time into your calculi, brat," The entity mocked right into the exorcist's face. "Tsunayoshi's right: I began to cling to him two weeks ago, and our first meeting is barely a month long."

He bore his eternal smirk as he spoke, looking right into the eyes of the baby. The later, as for himself, stayed neutral at the ghost. He just had turned around and, impassive, checked him out from head to toe with great attention. In the end, both of them had eyed each other scornfully for few seconds. Then the chat resumed:

"Are you sure?" Reborn snorted, dubitative. "You don't have the same time notion as humans at all, do you?"

"Sure, but I still can read a calendar," The other replied tit for tat.

Another few seconds of disdainful silence. Then Reborn shrugged.

"Bah, anyway, this detail is not important."

He turned back to the brunet, ignoring fully the third person in the room.

"Tsuna." The one who was called froze under the imperial tone Reborn used. "I'll tell you one more time: I am an exorcist whose mission is to eradicate the threat created by this thing." He scornfully showed Mukuro with his hand. "But for me to act, I'd like to have your consent first, it'll ease the process."

The 'thing' the baby was for still found something to retort:

"Kufufu ~ You're not an exorcist, Arcobaleno. Or else, me, I've never died."

"Yes," The other said, mean. "But what I have to do here can be considered as exorcism. The name doesn't matter."

He ignored the entity once again, who was chuckling with his signature laugh, and focused on Tsuna, who wasn't sure he had understood the last exchange. Mukuro said he wasn't an exorcist… what was he, then?

He wasn't graced with the time to ask the question out loud. The guest was already going back to his explanations.

He spilled every argument in favour of letting him do his job. Firstly, such phenomenon were always the starts of perturbation in the worlds' balance. Tsuna didn't understand what that was speaking about, he felt as if he needed Gokudera by his side as a translator. But from what he got, if a spirit breached through the frontier without control, it was bad. And protect the world's balance was precisely the baby's mission, from what he said. That's why he came, and he couldn't go back to his home empty-handed. Plus, from what he could see, Mukuro's manifestation into the living's realm was quite intrusive, such as, as he was right now, being so real every mortal could be capable of seeing him, even though he didn't have any corporeal body.

Suddenly, hearing this, Tsuna glanced at the door, fearing Nana would irrupt into the room to complete her perfect hostess' task. Well, knowing his mother, she wouldn't mind one more guest. At the most, she'd be surprised she didn't see him come in, and she'd propose a cup of tea, nothing out of habit.

But still, the small brunet didn't really want his mother to chat with a ghost.

However, he kept his mouth shut and continued listening to the other's monologue. Until a certain point where, just like at the beginning of this conversation, he got confused, not agreeing to what the other said.

"…And there's also the fact that he's sucking into your energy to appear. And if he doesn't manage to kill you before, you'll end up dead from exhaustion. A lack of spiritual energy isn't something to take lightly."

"But, err-…" Tsuna finally intervened, taking his chance to say something before the following pro-eradication arguments. "Concerning that, I don't think it'll happen that way. I-I mean, at first, sure, I felt strangely weak, but it went away quite quickly. I think my body must have got used, or something…"

Actually, when he thought of it, he didn't really have any problems with Mukuro's presence. Except for the catastrophes provoked by his madness, but hey, that, if it was here or in his… world, it would be the same, right? Plus, it wasn't really his fault. He felt bad about sending back the entity without helping him beforehand, as he still clung onto the deep guiltiness he felt each time he thought of the reason he was stuck here, with him. This whole story was more his fault than Mukuro's.

And concerning these stories of balance and dangerousness… to say so, he didn't understand what was important and what wasn't. And, even though it seemed important, Tsuna didn't know enough to judge what was prior to what.

Ah, and also… Mukuro already had refused to go back. Even though he didn't want to say why. Tsuna hadn't tried to make him change his mind afterwards, and he said he wouldn't make him go away. He couldn't go back on his decision. Even his own cowardice could find a limit.

Also deep in thought, Reborn was thinking about it, too. He had been once again surprised at the small brunet's retort. Come on, he was currently seeing the orange aura being consumed by the ghost's presence, right under his eyes. It couldn't be an illusion. It was happening right now!

And then, he finally noticed after few minutes that, despite that, the boy's energy didn't diminish in a bit since the day before, where he observed him all day. And he seemed to be in perfect health for someone who was taking care of an entity since two weeks – he still doubted the time span, but he would trust him. Only one problem at once.

Of course, he was more than aware that this energy was regenerating by itself. But even with a good night of sleep, an optimal life's hygiene and a perfect knowledge of the said energy, how could it be possible to regenerate oneself that quickly, even though a spirit was constantly pumping a part of it to be a part of the living? No human was supposed to have such a quantity to disposition.

But maybe was he surprised for nothing much, in the end. Many times before had he the occasion to encounter impossible things in his life. Especially with people possessing the same kind of power as this boy. A flame pure, warm, seemingly inexhaustible…

As he was evacuating his questions while clinging to this vague and lame explanation, Reborn almost regretted taking this mission that made him come to this house. He knew quite well that if he was to accomplish it, he would kill such a beautiful flame, sealing forever the potential of his carrier, as well as the ghost that was grafted to him just like a leech would.

And that, that was one of the rare thing that plunged him in a dark mood. To be forced to renounce to something as rare as it was interesting, fascinating. Worse : destroy it with his bare hands.

"Okay, I'm switching methods," he said, interrupting himself in the middle of his monolog. Anyway, the small brunet didn't seem to go back onto his decision, despite everything he said – on the contrary. Determination was glinting into his eyes, and in his flame too, even though his face still seemed confused.

The two other protagonists had turned to him once again when he talked, not with his tiny baby voice, but with a deep anger, relentless, cold. He noticed a shiver of fright from the teen. Good. Maybe this would work.

Something green sled into his fingers; one second later, he stood up and pointed a gun of the same color right between the eyes of the brunet, point blank.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," He spit coldly, giving him an inhuman look. The boy shrieked out of terror as he realized the situation he was in, suddenly dangerous.

"HIIIIIIIEEEE! Wh-What?!" He yelled, eyes wide open, as if they were ready to pop out of their socket.

"I'll ask only once more… It is you or this ghost. Your choice?"

* * *

><p>Tsuna was a bit lost when he got up from sleep, that morning. He didn't sleep very well, too preoccupied by what had happened the day before. Thankfully, he didn't have to drag his heavy body to class, today.<p>

He didn't know how everything had gone wrong, at first. Nor how he got away alive.

There was this 'baby' exorcist but that wasn't really one, that his mother let enter freely, who had babbled about a lot of things he didn't memorized for him to get away from Mukuro, and that had finished by pointing his gun right between his eyes without preventing or anything, probably because his monolog didn't seem to work.

Well, of course…

As if his life wasn't in danger enough because of Mukuro's crazy moments. Had he to add up a mad, armed baby to his list of annoyance potentially mortal?

Speaking of that, he hadn't registered what had happened next.

However, he was pretty sure the other had shot.

But knowing how he got away alive, it was another thing…

"Kufufu ~ Surprised to be breathing?"

Tsuna got up suddenly when he heard Mukuro's voice; the spirit was gently sitting down the table, at the same place from yesterday. Strange, usually, he waited for him to get up before appearing. But, it was kind of neat for him to be there. He must have seen what had happen for real.

"Ah! Mukuro-san… Well, it's that… I'm pretty sure I got shot at yesterday, so…"

"Kufufu ~ You did."

Tsuna's eyes widened. Despite his eternal smirk, the ghost didn't seem to lie. Out of instinct, the small brunet put a febrile hand against his forehead. Nothing.

"B-But then, how…?" He stuttered, confused.

"The bullet didn't hit the target."

How? A bullet shot from right against his skin that didn't hit the target?

He didn't have the time to question the improbability of the situation anymore. The doorbell rang, followed, few seconds later, by Nana's voice, announcing that Gokudera was waiting for him. The young man must have come to take some news about his health before going to work, probably. Or maybe he had a break today and they would pass the day together. In both case, Tsuna was quite happy, it would let him put the trauma from yesterday on put.

Nevertheless, there was something that was worrying him, since he woke up.

As he stood up and went to a amass of clothes where he picked some clean stuff, he turned once again to his entity:

"Mukuro-san?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't you more… transparent, today?"

Indeed, it was almost possible to see everything behind the immaterial figure. Tsuna wondered if he was only able to see him because he knew he was there.

But he only got a mysterious 'kufufu~' as a reply.


	5. Chapter 5

_( 01/02/2015 - metric system )_

_Salve ~_

_This is L. Ilovu writing :) This chapter was really fun to translate ! The action is set into place and the story's ready to take timid steps toward its destiny. _

_To be honest, I've been a bit sad while translating the 6th chapter, as no-one reviewed the previous one. Well, I guess that happens, but we barely got story alerts ( one, actually, thank you, **Chibi Bethie** :) ) when we had 235 views ( which is a lot :o ). I mean, sure, both Y. and I are pleased to see people actually reading Y.'s story, but reviews really are the fuel of our eagerness to translate/write/publish. Even activity from fanfiction in our mailbox. That would be awesome._

_By the way, as both Y. and I are French speakers, there might be some grammatical error/poor choice of words. If you feel like pointing them out, don't hesitate, it'd help my translating skills from French to English, thank you :)_

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><p><strong><em>No (guest) reviews<em>**

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer<em>**

_Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano_

_The Solitude's Flame ( **La Flamme de la Solitude** ) belongs to Y._

_L. was given the right to translate_

**_This chapter didn't get any correction or whatsoever_**

**_._**

_Next chapter will be published in two weeks ( 15/02/2015 - metric system )_

_(: Enjoy :)_

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><p>Reborn's annoyance was reaching its extreme limit. This whole fiasco was getting on his nerves more than he imagined.<p>

... In the same time, every single details of this damn file was so interesting he didn't regret one bit accepting it. At least, he wouldn't regret it as long he didn't have to finish his mission. The only problem was that he had to bring it to an end sooner or later. Today, for example. As soon as possible, for short.

So... He was back in front of the Sawada's household. He was still thinking of what had happened the day before, in this same house. A new reason to be angry at himself. And a new reason to be exalted.

He wasn't really satisfied about himself concerning these past events. He hadn't been really professional. Oh, no, it wasn't because he had threatened the poor boy with his weapon. That, was normal, and perfectly calculated. However, he didn't plan on firing up. Despite everything his colleague, clients and enemies could have said on him, he was not one to fire so quickly and he was quite patient. However, yes, he was pulling out his gun at every occasion. It was making some hard situations pretty easy, and made him loose less time. He loathed loosing time. Except for that, he never shot for nothing. Generally, it was making things pretty much worse than it helped them.

But there...

He couldn't help it. And it took a lot, to make him act on impulse. Okay, except if someone was taunting him, in that case, he always replied by shooting at the boor.

And what happened yesterday wasn't really a taunt. It was more of a completely-comprehensive move of self-defence.

But he had shot.

He couldn't resist.

He didn't know if it had been by annoyance or defy. Or simply to romp himself. Letting go of all the stress he felt when he entered the household.

So, he shot. And he went away, decreeing he didn't like the finality of this mission. And he came back, because it had to end one day - and he wouldn't let this task in the hand of any other people.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Gokudera-kun."<p>

The called, who was waiting in front of the door, turned around, and his face illuminated.

"Hello, Juudaime! How are you?"

Tsuna didn't feel guilty at all for lying, on this one. It would've been better, especially avec the events of the day before... for now. Of course, he would tell his friend. But... not like that as a greeting. The silver head tended to become violent after these kind of confessions, before searching for every kid in the neighbourhood to explode them until he found the one that shot at his Juudaime.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright... you don't have to work today?" He asked, with a trivial tone he was proud of - at least he didn't have himself away with his first few words.

"Oh, I do," The other said, suddenly uneasy. "I was going, you see. But I wanted to hear news... um...from you."

Tsuna frowned at this brutal change in attitude. Was there something bothering his friend? Had he already pierced through his happy facade? No, no, if he came to see him, it must have bothered him since he woke up. He couldn't know about the day before.

However, the small brunet had been so confused about the sheepish tone that he didn't know what to say.

"By the way... My sister's here too" Gokudera finished, seemingly not noticing the internal trouble of his friend.

The later blinked, coming back to what was happening right now, and he looked over the young man's shoulder. Indeed, Bianchi was standing a bit further away, near the portal. Seeing him, she waved at him before approaching.

"Hi. So, something new with your ghost?"

Ah... It was probably that. Gokudera must have talked of his problems and she must have felt the need to see it with his own eyes. As the fraternal relationship between these two was quite stranger - and mix of hatred and of the most curious protection's instinct - it explained why Gokudera felt embarrassed.

And the later quickly confirmed Tsuna's thesis:

"Ah, sorry Juudaime, I told her not to come bother you but..." He stuttered, even more embarrassed and slightly unnerved.

"Oh, it's nothing, Gokudera-kun," The brunet reassured, with an amused smile. To say so, he was still happy someone cared for this case. With the will to help him, and not to point a gun between his eyes.

He turned to the young woman, addressing her the same smile. She said nothing, arms crossed on her chest, waiting for a reply. Her eyes were curiously piercing, fixed on the teen. All of a sudden, Tsuna didn't feel as thankful as before. Her closed face was quite scary.

"W-Well..."

He was hesitating. Something was telling him that, in any way, she knew. At least vaguely. And that's why she gave her brother the idea to visit him, and she followed.

Was it a reason to spill everything? But he couldn't do it in front of Gokudera. He didn't want to make him panic right before his shift. Or even in general.

"Your pineapple head don't seem quite healthy, do it, Dame-Tsuna?"

Shoved away from his thoughts with this little childish and malicious voice which apparently replied in his place, Tsuna jumped, and turned his head in every way to find where it came from. His gaze finally ended on the small figure he wanted to see the less today, standing on the garden's wall. It was him! It really was him! This time, he had changed his weird exorcist disguise for a... three-pieces miniature suit?

It was really becoming insane. Okay, stay calm. What did he say about his name, already?

"Reboooooooorn~!"

Ah, yes, Reborn.

But, err-, what? Wait. Did Bianchi just named the baby herself? With a voice quite too happy for someone like him? Did she knew him? This crazy guy as tall as a baby?

... Apparently, yes, as she rushed to him to take him in his arms, screaming in joy as she tenderly patted his head, through his expensive hat.

So it was her who send him? But why? Did she judge she wasn't dealing fast enough with the 'Mukuro' problem? Couldn't she just speak about it with him, try to help him, anything else but sending him a creepy brat with an obvious mental disorder?

"Ju-... Juudaime..."

The brunet turned to Gokudera, who stayed as gobsmacked than him in front of the baby's appearance, and he noticed he was trembling, hands into fists, eyes on the ground. Was he... angry at him?

"A-ah, wait, Gokudera-kun!" He stuttered, embarrassed. "I-I'll explain!"

"No need to," The silver head interrupted with a dark voice. "I see... If the Juudaime is in relation with such a person... It can only mean one thing..."

Tsuna was holding his breath, not daring to say any words. He feared his friend would explode at any instant. However, Gokudera looked up suddenly, grabbing him by the shoulders, still febrile, his eyes were full of shining little stars.

"Juudaime is someone exceptional! I knew it! I knew it!"

Tsuna couldn't believe it. He blinked, not understanding how his friend could say such a thing.

However, if he had understood everything... It meant Gokudera also knew this infernal kid?

Suddenly, as the small exorcist was getting love in his corner - had Bianchi registered the fact he couldn't have more than two years old? Seeing her, it did not seem so... - the young man cropped up to his friend:

"So... both of you know him? Who's this kid, in the end?" He whispered, a little bit of annoyance being heard in his tone.

Gokudera frowned and seemed to hesitate, glancing at the concerned person. He felt like Tsuna was missing a piece to understand the person's identity, and was evaluating whether he could tell him or not. But his friendship seemed to win, as he whispered back, on a secret tone:

"Well... It's Reborn, one of the Arcobaleno Order's member. It's quite hard to explain, but he's one of the greatest figure of the occult's world."

Tsuna nodded, still not believing it would help him in any way. Nevertheless, he remembered that Mukuro had mentioned that name, 'Arcobaleno'. It must have been the key-word to this whole story.

"But..." The silver head continued, "As you seemed to know him too, I thought..."

"He just came to my house yesterday," The brunet corrected, "But excepted for the fact he's running after Mukuro-san, which means me too, I don't know much more."

To these words, trivial - or at least, in their situation, not weirder than the other stories of ghost and baby exorcists - Tsuna was surprised to see his friend becoming suddenly pale and widen his eyes. However, he didn't interpret these facial changes correctly:

"Ah! Sorry, I was planning on telling that to you, but I didn't want to disturb you for your work..." He articulated with precipitation before realizing something else wasn't going so well. But before being able to say anything else, Gokudera moved, approaching Reborn. He still seemed in an advanced state of shock.

"R-Reborn-san..." He began with a frightened voice. "W-Why? H-How comes the Juudaime could become one of your... t-targets?"

He had said that as if it had been the most serious things of the world, as if he was announcing the beginning of the Apocalypse, which was beginning to make Tsuna panic, even though he didn't really knew why. He had been able to notice the relative dangerosity - he still was there to talk about it, after all - of the strange child, but was there something else? Something else that was hiding in the information he refused to give him?

The seriousness of the teen, when he spoke, seemed to contaminate the two others, who were, till now, quite calm. Bianchi had stopped screaming like a fangirl, and Reborn was hiding under his hat.

"Believe me," He finally said, with a voice that was anything but childish, "I'm not doing this because I like it. But if only he could be 'treated' as soon as possible, he would have chances to get out of this in one piece."

He looked up, planting his eyes in the wide eyes of Tsuna.

"However, whatever his choice is, I'll do what has to be done."

* * *

><p>After the hard reply of Reborn, a long silence fell onto the group. And then someone - Tsuna didn't remember who exactly - had noticed Gokudera would be late to work if they stayed here doing nothing.<p>

All at once, they went with him.

A suffocating atmosphere was pressing down their back during the whole way, where no one said anything. Gokudera didn't want to get away from Tsuna in such a grave moment, which would have been, according to him, letting him to his sister's and the infernal baby's mercy, but he had closed himself up in a raging muteness. The small brunet, who was walking down his side, saw his tightening fists and could sense his anxiety, he was getting carried away by fear, completely at loos of what to do. What scared his friend so much for him not to let him go? This will, with the last words of Reborn as well, were running in circle around his mind, making him imagine the worst scenarii, which was making him all trembling and terrified. He really did threw himself in a dangerous case, apparently, when he hesitated on accepting the exorcist's proposition, or whatever was his real job.

The later was following them, few steps back, letting himself be carried by Bianchi. Those two didn't seem to let go of him either... This presence, this looks constantly on his back made the whole situation even more oppressing. But it was probably on purpose. Tsuna didn't make any more illusions on Reborn's motivation: they were bad, bad as they could be.

Eventually, they arrived in one piece at the pizzeria. Gokudera threw a warning glance at his sister, pointing she couldn't do anything against his precious Juudaime when his back was turned. The three others sat down at a table while the waiter went to change himself. The youngest of them all really wanted to run as fast as he could, but his legs weren't that in sync with his need. They gave up as soon as he sat down at the chair.

He was stuck.

"So," Reborn began, faking an interest for the menu, "We can get back to our conversation in peace."

Just as if he had waiting for the precise departure of Gokudera… True that the young man's anger, obvious to the whole world, didn't help the exchange. Hard to speak with such subjects as a time-bomb was ticking next to you.

However, for Tsuna, it had been a relief. He didn't know if he really wanted to have the replies to the questions he asked himself. He already seemed to be condemned to the eyes of the one who was his executioner, so why bother talking about it anyway?

Despite everything, a timid light of hope pushed himself to know. Maybe the truth would be better than he would imagine. Or maybe he would find a breach to pass through the hell unscathed. With little chance…

He then nodded, for the first time agreeing to what his interlocutor had to say.

"W-what…" He began to articulate, before interrupting himself, as he realized he wouldn't get anywhere if he spoke that slowly.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply; when he opened them, a will was burning in them.

"What was Gokudera-kun so afraid of, before? What do I risk being…" – He had a hard time to spill out the word – "a 'target'?

While waiting for his answer, he made sure he wouldn't look down, as he bore into the kid's eyes. The later watched him quite the long time before sighing.

"Your life itself isn't in danger," He said, dead serious. "I was just sent here to get rid of the entity that's eating out your energy."

He made a small pause before entering right into the subject:

"From what I saw, the only way to get rid of it is, I won't hide that to you, a bit violent. But I can guarantee you that you'll be able to go back to your little civilian life after that."

Despite the reassuring words at the end – he only meant to go back to his life from before, after all, just like Reborn said – Tsuna noticed Bianchi clenching her teeth. He instinctively understood that it was the other method she had spoken about, and that the exorcist was making it the only one available. The famous 'hard method'. It wasn't good, not good at all…

But it wasn't all.

"Reborn," The young woman said between her teeth, "If you do that, his flame will…"

"It's nothing much," Reborn interrupted. "Nothing much at all, considering his actual life."

Tsuna, who was already feeling the conversation get out of hand, began to be annoyed by it:

"But who are you lots in the end?" He exploded. "You all speak about me, but I'm certainly the only one not understanding one bit of this, and no one is bothering to explain!"

There was like a pause the debate, right at that moment. Just like her brother earlier Bianchi seemed to hesitate to give him his answer, but as for Reborn, the question was already answered, as he replied immediately at the look the woman gave him.

"No," He only snapped, harsh. Then he turned to Tsuna who was still waiting an answer. "Listen up, Dame-Tsuna. In the really closed world of the occult, there's rules. I am one of those who are charged to make people respect these rules. That's all you'll know, every other information would be a burden for you, since after this whole thing you'll never be in contact with our universe, ever again. So now, shut up, let me do, it'll be easier for everyone, especially for you.

He had almost spit the end of his sentence and, to be honest, Tsuna was wondering that that tone was way more scary than a meeting with a gun's canon. Nevertheless, there was something bothering him, in every speech he received since the baby arrived, that was shooing his fear away. As he repeated and repeated the same question over again in his head, he almost had had the impression it was the wrong question. That, no matter what was the reply, it wasn't the centre of the problem. After all, all these people surrounded by mysteries that he talked to lately… it was all about _him_ they were talking about, all, about the phenomenon surrounding him, the consequences that it had or would have on _his_ life… He was _intriguing_ those people, clearly. What was weird, strange: if they were that interested in the occult, they must have been facing things way stranger than a no-good teen that was possessed by an entity, weren't they? And no, he couldn't say he really was special, as someone. Quite clumsy and unlucky, yes, but that apart…

In any way, it was seriously beginning to get on his nerves to hear pure strangers, or almost, have a debate on his life, while knowing about it way better than him. So using his ignorance to force him to do something he didn't want to do, it was really going too far for his taste.

So, he hit the table with his fist. Littetaly.

"Is it some kind of joke?!" He exclaimed with an angriness he didn't know about, standing up. "You really think I'll do what you say I have to do just like that? Maybe I am naïve and cowardly, but let's not exaggerate! I repeated it hundreds of time already, but obviously, you lack something in your brain, so there, last time: No, I won't let you deal with the 'case' of Mukuro. Nor mine. Not until I know _exactly_ what you plan on doing. _Precisely."_

He sat back down, barely noticing the whole restaurant had been listening to him.

"… And if you don't like it, you can already give up, I'll never change my point of view on that," He finished with a quieted tone.

He sighed deeply after this monologue, to evacuate the stress, and then only he got interested in his interlocutors' reactions.

"Err-..."

... But the only reply he got was the taken aback manifestation from someone next to him. He looked up and saw Dino, his notebook ready to take orders, as he looked at him with worried eyes.

"T-Tsuna? Are you okay?" He asked, more than shocked by what he just saw.

This brought back the usual tone of the brunet : clumsy and stuttering.

"A-ah! Dino-san! S-Sorry, I... I must have disturbed the other clients..."

"Oh, they'll be okay," The other reassured. "But you..."

"I-I-I'm okay! Just... No, I'm okay," Tsuna replied quickly.

Of course, he couldn't just say that the ones sitting down at his table were two freaks that, not only were they huge fans of ghost, were harassing him for he-didn't-really-know-what-but-he-didn't-want-to-know-anyway-because-he-just-got-angry-at-them. Especially not to Dino, who was a pure, pure scientist, and probably the only reasonable person in this world, for now. Plus he had promised not to bother with entities anymore last time they saw each other: he didn't want to deceive him.

Even though he had lied quite badly concerning his feelings, and that he couldn't be credible after exploding like that, Tsuna noticed that his friend was being tactful enough not to question him any further. Instead, he took back his waiter's role, smiling and welcoming.

"Okay!" He exclaimed. "In that case, I can take up your orders and AAAAAHHH!"

... It didn't last long; seeing the shout he just did and his shocked expression, it was now him who was disturbed by something. Indeed, he just had looked at his little bro's companions and, for a reason still unknown, that vision made him jump backwards of one meter, which made him fall on his butt.

Curious, Tsuna stared the scared man, then the others, then back to his friend, without understanding what just happened.

"R-R-R-R-R-R-R-REBORN!" He finally managed to stutter, not being able to do anything else. "Wh-What the hell are you doing here?!"

And there, Tsuna began to sweat. He jumped when he heard this accursed name coming from Dino's mouth, and he almost fell off his chair. He glared at the baby in suit. Was it possible that this person knew absolutely ALL the people he knew? Definitely, he was really skilled, for a stalker.

The concerned didn't move much, not even surprised, only glaring at the young man on the ground.

"Nothing about you, Dino," He said, calm... a bit contemptuous. He seemed to have a light grudge against the blond, at least that's what we could say from his cold demeanour.

"But I thought you wanted to take our orders," He continued. "If you're an as pitiable waiter as you were a student, I understand even less the fact you chose to do that job..."

Jabbed were it hurt the most, the blonde suddenly stood up with an expression Tsuna never saw him bear... A pure and destructive hate. However, he didn't replied to the subject Reborn began:

" Wait," He said between his teeth, "What do you want with Tsuna? Pull him into your world for him to get lost?"

"On the contrary," The baby replied, ignoring the glares sent his way, more interested in the menu.

"WHAT?!"

That negation didn't seem to satisfy the waiter either, even though he got surprised he didn't loose any time to get mad.

In front of that anger not controlled anymore, the baby, who didn't even spare a glance at the blonde till now, turned to him, a mean smile on his lips:

"Though..."

Dino's eyes widened. He immediately understood he gave a terrifying idea to his interlocutor. He glanced at Tsuna, who was, as usual, lost in that sea of ineptness.

"Okay, Dame-Tsuna," He said, way happier. "The other dumb-nut suggested an option that could convene to the both of us... three of us, if you count your sticky ghost. You consent, now?"


	6. Chapter 6

_( 15/02/2015 - metric system )_

_Salve ~ _

_This is L. Ilovu writing ~ ! And here comes the 6th chapter ! The action is taking place, and some explanation about the world will be given - finally ! But I won't say anything more, for it would be spoilers (and no one wants to be spoiled)_

_Without further ado, let's pass onto the next part ~_

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><p><strong><em>Reply to guest reviews :<em>**

**_HimeSora : _**_Thanks a lot for your interest ! *love* We both hope you'll enjoy this chapter ~_

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><p><em><strong>Disclaimer<strong>_

_Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano_

_The Solitude's Flame ( **La Flamme de la Solitude **) belongs to Y._

_L. was given the rights to translate_

**_This chapter didn't receive any correction_**

**_._**

_Next chapter will be published in two weeks ( 01/03/2015 - metric system )_

_(: Enjoy :)_

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><p>The sun was slowly rising that beautiful morning. The small town of Namimori was calmly waking up, ready for the peaceful day and activities that would be held.<p>

In his bed, Tsuna snuggled up to his pillow when the first sunrays passed through the window, caressing his skin abandoned by the blanket, but his eyes stayed shut, as he was in a deep, deep sleep. Breathing with no care in the world, he let himself be charmed by sweet dreams, away from his usual problems.

And all of that without doubting one second a bomb would explode right in his face in an instant.

It was _literally_ a bomb.

The small black box had been placed right over his belly, letting out a discreet 'tick-tock' not leaving a chance to doubt about the nature of the item. As for the one who put it there, you only had to look a bit on the side: in the corner of the room was standing up a small figure whose eyes were hiding behind the large rim of his fedora. The only traits visible was the huge smile he had, more than enough to tell it was him the culprit of what was about to happen.

Mukuro sighed as he glanced at the explosive engine, then the one who put it there, understanding immediately what was happening. Now, the thing he had to know was choosing whether he would let it be that way or if he intervened to help his host out of this - host that way, by the way, still sleeping like a baby. The true baby, awakened, threw a defying glance at him, guessing what he thought. But was he waiting for him to enter his game or not? Hard to know... The bomb was probably not dangerous - not mortal, at least, for the Arcobaleno to use it in such a sneaky way. It was obvious he didn't want to kill his target, even thought it was hard to see what he actually wanted. And also, if Tsuna got blew up in his sleep, he wouldn't care that much, as long as he survived at least a bit; every option he could choose were good for him.

Thus, while he pondered, he decided to stay there as a simple spectator. And to profit of that moment to ask some questions, to know what he wanted to do in this. He would guess if he still was someone to kill or if they could try to cohabitate.

Nevertheless, right before he opened his mouth, the baby spoke first:

"Stay focused on that bomb," He said, as if it was something important.

Intrigued by those words, Mukuro continued the chat on that theme: "Oya ? Will it explode faster if it's out of sight?"

Rhetorical question, of course. But was it? The other didn't seem to react. If he kept his amused smile, he seemed to be serious. The entity thus decided to watch the bomb while waiting for the other to speak up.

And he eventually explained:

"You probably already guessed, since you didn't do anything yet: that thing isn't dangerous, at least not for the physical envelope of a ordinary human."

"Kufufu ~ The same type of weapon as the other time, then? Maybe I should get a bit further away from it, then."

"If you prefer not to disappear, indeed. It doesn't cover much space, though."

"I see... But if I don't have to get bothered about it, why order to stay focused on it?"

"If Dame-Tsuna doesn't wake up soon, it'll finish by exploding right in his face."

"Where does it involve me?"

"Except if you're bound by a blood pact - which I doubt a lot - nothing, but I'd like to test your links once again."

"To my knowledge, it's not possible to develop telepathy between entity and invocator... plus I'm not sure you can say that it's Tsunayoshi who specifically 'invoked'."

"True that. But I'm still curious about it. Aren't you?"

The baby's smile widened, as his eyes were planted through the transparent figure, almost erased, of Mukuro. He stared at him few more seconds, half convinced, but executed the proposition nevertheless, looking back to the bomb and Tsuna, keeping his thoughts on the small box. He didn't have to try much, however, because right when he began to concentrate, the sleeping teen began to wriggle, blinking, spirit numbed.

"Tss, not fun," Reborn snorted, as his smile eased out in front of that unfortunate coincidence.

When those words were pronounced, even though it was in a sulky tone, the small brunet seemed to wake up instantly, sitting up suddenly, and finally noticed the weapon that was on him. He then only became screams and fuzzy moves, a show quite distracting for the two others persons in the room - who never tried to help him once, of course - and the bomb, thanks to a miracle, was thrown out of the window, for it to explode in the sky - a huge BOOM followed by some yellow sparkly rain.

Tsuna, as for him, was thrown on the floor, completely at loss of what to do and a bit traumatized by what just happened. He then glanced at Reborn - whose voice he had recognized, but only thought it was some kind of dream - and yelled, again, pointing at him, as if a demon was standing proud of him - which was probably more akin to reality that he would've liked.

In reply to this ever so warm welcome, the baby pulled out his gun and got in front of the young men, ready to shoot him with his green gun. All at once, the screaming stopped. Tsuna gulped down, nervous, his eyes focused on the weapon's barrel.

"You're too loud in the morning, Dame-Tsuna," He said calmly. "If you could restrain yourself a bit, it would be great."

He put the pistol down after that, the item taking its initial form of chameleon and went up his master's hat, all of that in front of a Tsuna whose expression became more and more scared, as he just linked the pet following Reborn everywhere and the pistol that was seemingly always showing up out of nowhere.

He didn't get the time to question how it could transform in a gun of all things, Reborn was already continuing, ignoring his confusion.

"Hum, yes. It's better when you shut it up," He approved as the brunet seemed absolutely terrified.

"Okay," He immediately said after that, "I came here to announce you that you have the privilege of being my student and that" He showed the window with his chin, where the bomb had exploded, "The training already began."

"H-Huh?" The concerned screamed, as he couldn't believe it. How did the baby could come saying that when the day before he was still ready to make him a sacrifice for who-knows-what to kill Mukuro? True that, when he thought about it, after Dino's intervention at the Bucking Horse, Reborn had made a new proposition to Tsuna, who seemed to be different of the other. But while the teen tried to know more about it, the other didn't reply anything and got away, pretending he had stuff to do. Nothing else.

It was that, that idea that he had got to put down the reluctance and resistance of his target? But he didn't remember agreeing to anything, and he doubted that new solution was better than the others. He would stay wary as long as he didn't have more information.

Guessing his thoughts as easily as if he could read them, Reborn had a small smile:

"Of course it's a better solution. At least for you, me it's the same... But by becoming my student, I can watch your ghost, and assure myself he doesn't do too much damage. And whether you have good results or not, I'll maybe stop wanting to erase him."

It was a pretty heavy con to accept. If the baby had said that on a trivial tone, as if he was speaking about the weather, Tsuna didn't get fooled: it was his last attempt to negotiate. After that, there wouldn't be more words. Only acts. And not acts that would help him, if he refused.

Nevertheless... It was true that this proposition was far more enticing than the rest of them. By accepting, Tsuna could be protected from that curious person who wanted to see Mukuro erased, but he maybe would've the occasion to find an answer to his questions, maybe even help the spirit to find the message he had to tell. That proposition seemed too good to be true, and it must have been hiding something else, but hey, had he another choice? Yes he had, but they were choices way less desirable.

He nodded slowly, agreeing for the first time to what the cherub said.

Smiling at that, the later did not wait any longer to begin his training:

"Great! Okay so, since Mukuro is out of ordrer for now, we'll have to do basics only, today."

He plunged right into the huge green bag his lizard just turned into - "By the way, this is Leon," He had said on that occasion - and began to get huge stacks of books out of it, stacks far higher than the professor was tall.

Tsuna, however, far from being happy in front of the massive work the other seemed to give him, stayed focused on the first part of the speech previously told.

"What do you mean, Mukuro is out of order?" He asked, wary. He feared that the Arcobaleno did something to him while he was sleeping.

"You mean that you didn't notice?" He the other replied, as he continued to put books over books.

Tsuna blinked, perplex. No, he didn't notice anything, except for the fact that the entity seemed transparent and not so present anymore since... since.

As if he was following his trail of thoughts, Mukuro smiled at him, to point out that he was on the good way. The young man was still frowning, not seeing what his two companions wanted to say. And also, if Mukuro had a real problem, he would've told him, wouldn't he?

Though, he was doubting. He had an idea that was plaguing him, even though it didn't have anything to do with what he was thinking about. Hoping for some more, he decided to question the baby:

"What happened, the other day, the first time you came here?" He asked, uncertain.

But he hit the good sport, because his new teacher stopped his little game to face him. He stared at him a long time, not moving in an inch, without speaking, only showing him a judging glance. Then he said, with a totally laid-back tone:

"I shot you, what a question. Generally, this is the kind of event people remember."

Okay. He wasn't going to give him his reply as easily as he thought. But even if he didn't really know where that question would lead him, he wouldn't give it up just like that.

"I remember that alright," He complied with a slightly cheeky voice. "But why didn't I get hurt, or..."

"... killed?" Reborn completed, as he finished to pile up his books in the corner of the room.

He climbed up the mountain of paper with a swift jump and sat down. As he took the time to think about what to say - even if Tsuna was convinced he already had his whole speech in mind - he seemed to be absent for few minutes, before talking up:

"First, let me warn you," He began, more than serious, almost scary. "The kind of attack you endured the other day wasn't something trivial: if I wanted to, I could've killed you."

Tsuna blinked, surprised, but those last words, and that sudden change in the atmosphere kept him from replying all at once. He gulped down, waiting for the next part of the explanation, but also more information as for the crap he sailed into.

"But," He small teacher continued, "I didn't want to kill and, obviously, you didn't have to take up any pain at all."

On that, he turned around, glaring at the spot where Mukuro was standing. The other living human did the same, looking curiously at his ghostly friend.

"Kufufu~" He simply laughed at Reborn. "I couldn't let a dangerous Arcobaleno shoot my host, even though it was a pathetic attempt at intimidating.

The said Arcobaleno raised his brows, full of disdain : "Maybe, but your intervention made you waste more energy than you could afford. He would've supported that bullet way better than you, and I'm sure you knew that awfully well when you got in-between."

The entity said nothing else, and send him a provoking smirk at him. Tsuna, as for him, seeing the chat was grinding up to things he couldn't understand, coughed a bit to bring back his presence to the others. Reborn let go of the grudge for few seconds to continue his explanation:

"For short, I shot a bullet like that one" He took out from the pocket inside his suit a small bullet strangely translucent. Tsuna approached to examine it, fascinated, and just then he seemed to understand what his mentor just said.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIE! A-A bullet?!" He yelled, falling from shock, and getting away as fast as possible from the item made to kill that the other was exhibiting.

"Yes," The baby confirmed, "But it's a bit special. It can't be used by any human that is, let's say, normal. Once it's charged" - he put the bullet in his green gun - "It absorbs a certain quantity of the shooter's flame." Indeed the weapon glinted a bit when he began to aim. "And that flame will be amplified then shot at the target, not causing physical damage, but potentially worse ones.

Finishing the demonstration, he shot the bullet up the roof. Tsuna followed the shot, effectively not seeing any material projectile - and, indeed, nothing had pierced his roof just like a normal shot would have - but a light trail of yellow colour began to spread few seconds later. He stayed in awe to that small yellow glint that stayed in the air before dissipating.

Okay, now, he understood why there hadn't been any visible mark of the attack, last time, which made him think it was a dream, at first. However, he didn't know what was the link between that and Mukuro's weakened presence. If he did understand everything, he took the hit for him, but he didn't manage to imagine the consequences of what happened to him: if you were hit by a legit bullet, you bled - but what about being hit by that energy? What happened precisely?

He quickly asked that question to Reborn, who was patiently waiting for his reaction. The baby nodded, actually hoping for the explanation to continue like that:

"Of course, you understood that if that kind of bullet can only be used by a certain kind of people, its effect are invisible for most people. I don't think I'm wrong if I say that you didn't see anything the first time, or else you'd have guessed what I'll explain to you now."

He paused, letting Tsuna the time to squirm through his own memories, and to see if he was ready for the rest of the lesson - because it was his first lesson that he began with the example.

"For short," He continued, "When the energy within the bullet is freed, it attacks the energy of the target, who's freed in return out of defensive instinct, to absorb the attack. This energy I'm talking about is everywhere and in each living beings, even if a minority can feel it and even less can use it however they wish to. You have to remember that the energy is vital, this is why attack it directly is dangerous. When you're low on energy, the body and the spirit is weakened. When it disappears, you die."

He paused again, a bit longer this time. Tsuna seemed to be in the middle of a reflexion, eyes lost to the horizon. Then, his gaze wandered toward the figure almost invisible of Mukuro. He still had a lot of question without any replies that were keeping him from gathering all the puzzle's pieces. But since his teacher seemed to be more chatty, today, maybe he could ask him to lighten up some information plunged in the dark.

A bit like the first real conversation he had had with his ghost, he began to ask all the question he could think of, without plotting anything, waiting to have all what he needed within his hands to begin thinking about all of that. He learned that, even though attacks such as Reborn's bullet were supposed to only be pure energy, it happened that their materialisation was so strong they physically hurt, too - but it was rare, and required as much power as it asked dexterity. The ghost were, for them, only a manifestation of that energy, more or less condensed. However, for them to stay within the realm of the living, they had to find a living source of power, or else they'd disappear, go back to being invisible and only being able to be found with those who knew where to search, and those who had what it took to search. They never really died, then, but they could have a lot of sequels, such as alteration of their memories, of their conscience, sometimes the impossibility to show up to humans again, etc. Also, every awkward manipulation of the energy could lead to those kind of things. Thus, Tsuna supposed that Mukuro's invocation was an example of that, since he came without remembering why he came in the first place, which was, according to him the reason why he got some little fits of madness. Reborn didn't deny the hypothesis, but didn't confirm it either. However, he assured, for he saw it, that even if the entity had used Tsuna's energy to protect him from his bullet, he took too much on him and in the end, it turned out against him, which explained why he couldn't show up that easily now.

The, Reborn revealed why he didn't see anything last time when, few minutes earlier, he saw his shot fly as clearly as a firework against his roof. Actually, Mukuro's lack of fortune had been his': his action had made his energy create a reject and the later had freed itself both of the entity's control, who was feeding out of it, and of the unconscious restrain that still was around it.

"Every living being more or less seal instinctively his energy," He had said, "And its liberation usually take up lots of work, but for you, the barrier cracked up after the shock, so you begin to see what was once hidden to you."

He also immediately warned him about that exceptional progression: there was a reason for the energy to be sealed shut automatically. If not controlled, it could be dangerous for the bearer. The fact that it was freed wouldn't be a good thing as long as Tsuna didn't know how to work his way with it, and that was why they had to work on that as soon as possible.

And with that transition, the teacher began to make him practice some exercises. He asked Tsuna to concentration on the movements lurking inside of him, to help him perceive that energy that was constantly running down his veins and control it. He would also see that, soon, alone, it tended to flee away in large quantity, exhausting itself.

However... All his attempts at showing that were failed.

So he changed his way of teaching.

"HIIIIIIIIEEE!" His unfortunate student screamed when, just as he tried once again to concentrate, he received right in the middle of his body a bullet, which sent him flying to his bed.

It was the first out of many.

Most of the morning, the teen had to run away from repeated attacks, first within the household, but soon in the whole neighbourhood.

He didn't understand anymore. Reborn had just said that the bullets were dangerous, and as deadly as the one in metal, so why did he do that? Each time he turned around to ask the question out loud, the only reply he got was a new attack, way more violent than the others, hitting right on the good spot, since the target had stopped. And, of course, nobody in the street dared save the poor boy, still bare footed and in pyjamas, since they couldn't see it was real bullet, and that Reborn's pistol seemed to be only an innocent toy in his hands.

Tsuna could only try to dodge, finding the task more and more hard to accomplish, and more than anything, he wondered what got up his tutor's head, who he almost began to have a better esteem after this morning's explanation. However, coming from someone who mixed up 'awakening' and 'bomb', could he survive more than one day?

* * *

><p>"Oh, and so you'll initiate Tsu-kun to your honourable profession?"<p>

"Yes, that's right. As soon as I met him, I immediately noticed his potential. Rightful exorcists are getting down in numbers, you know, there's more and more charlatans that present themselves with that title."

Tsuna collapsed in front of his breakfast, almost in coma, only listening to the happy chat Reborn was exchanging with his mother.

Of course, that morning, his new teacher knew exactly what he was doing. As they went back, he - finally - explained that if Tsuna felt so tired, just as if he had ran for days, and not only few hours, it was because he got hit too much by the bullets and had wasted an awful lot of energy. But he didn't blame him for that, since it was his goal: since the classical exercises didn't work, he had chosen a more drastic method that, he was convinced of it, would show up improvement soon. If Tsuna was to be in a mortal danger, as he liked to make him remember during his attacks, he would of course learn to control it, out of instinct. Or he would obstinate to stay dumb and would die from being exhausted.

Tsuna then understood that it wouldn't be the last time he'd have to endure that. However, right now, he felt so bad he didn't even have the strength to protest. Just like he didn't say anything once he got back home, when the kid presented himself to his mother, explaining that he took her son under his wing to guide him on the hard way of spiritual manipulation, but that she didn't have to worry, because he was absolutely qualified to help him in the 'classical' education, just like this Harvard's degree was proving it - Tsuna seriously doubted it was as real as it seemed to be.

Ah, and also, he had insisted on the necessity to stay here, so he could really follow his student's progression, to develop better method for him and his needed implication, bla bla bla... His interlocutor was giggling out of happiness at each replicas, showing she was absolutely for the idea and Tsuna, him, could only watch that, too tired to say anything, persuaded - rightfully so - that he wouldn't manage to keep up to days like that, and that his mother was signing a contract plunging him to his death, with a smile as a premium.

In the end, wasn't that training in the morning made to make him shut up right when this miniature monster would invite himself for an unknown time in his house, in all the legal ways?

Suddenly, in the middle of a pause during the conversation, Reborn turned to him, with a disapproving glance :

"You should eat, Dame-Tsuna, it's important for you to recover a bit, in the state you're in."

The brunet was about to complain that the state he was in, it was because of him, not only that, but he also had a hard time taking up his chopsticks, but instead, he just glared at him with eloquence. Then he turned back to his plate with the taste of his suffering.

* * *

><p>Fortunately, the rest of the day went a bit calmer. Tsuna and Reborn went back up the teen's room, Mukuro came back, still as transparent, and the three of them sat down around the sitting table in the middle of the room. No words were really exchanged, at first. Reborn asked about Tsuna's health, who grumpily replied, but who felt better after eating. Nana intruded for a short time, bringing tea and cupcakes and, as soon as she went away, as if the small teacher had only waited for that moment, his face became awfully serious. The two others didn't say anything else; he began like that:<p>

"So, I suppose you're waiting for an explanation about my doing's this morning."

No reaction. Tsuna, spread against the table, head between his arms, was staring at him with dull eyes, a bit wry.

"Before that, you have to know few things," The cherub continued.

He spread his hand over the table and opened it, palm facing the roof. It quickly began to glint, slightly, and right after a small spark, a tiny flame lit up. Looking the same as a wisp, it had nothing to do with a ordinary flame, and it wasn't only because of its bright yellow colour. It seemed it was alive, crackling slowly and regularly, without any smoke, without anything to burn.

When it appeared, Tsuna finally got somewhat interested in what was happening. His eyes became surprised, and he looked up, curious.

"Do you know what it is?" The teacher asked.

He said no with his head, hypnotized by this weird flame

Reborn closed his hand, making it disappear.

"For centuries, maybe millennia, the occult's art developed. From the most spiritual to the most down-to-earth society, there always was someone to say himself capable of communicating with what was beyond, to say he was capable to pierce its secrets, rightfully or not.

Pause. He was going to be serious now, he might as well take his time.

"There was a time - I won't dare date it, it's pretty vague - some adherents of these arts discovered this energy I've been telling you for awhile. Its within each living creature, dominating the realm of what's invisible, it takes the form of a flame when visible.

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something, but his interlocutor gestured him to keep it closed.

"It's called that way only because of its appearance," He continued to be sure not to be interrupted, "But it has nothing of our usual fire, technically. Actually, we never use it under its physical form, the one I just showed you, because it needs a lot of condensed energy and it's kind of unproductive. By the way, few people know how to make it come out like that."

"What's it good for, then?" This time, the student managed to interrupt his teacher.

"For the livings, not much," He replied without really getting offended by the question. "At least concerning what we know now: no one ever managed to create one powerful and stable enough to be used. There's of course flames created through a catalyst, just like my bullets, but the energy contained within it, but the energy isn't physical nor visible with an untrained eye, except if you want to reduce your target to ashes, but it's dangerous to surcharge a medium item like that. The one I produced earlier in the morning could've been seen by your mother or any other civilian.

He let Tsuna assimilate the concept, maybe panic at the idea of his mother able to see the flame if she had entered the room few minutes earlier, and also let him have the occasion to guess alone the rest of the explanation; indeed the young man seemed chocked at first in front of that last revelation, then he got lost within his thoughts. Then, there was like a tilt:

"And outside the living realm," He inquired as he glanced at the spot where Mukuro was. The later had chosen to disappear, even if Tsuna knew he was still there.

Reborn followed his eyes: "They're only made of that. It's what allow them to interact with the physical world and appear in front of anyone. Unlike us, they know instinctively how to use it, but their downside is that they have to care a lot about it, because its way more vital to them than to us."1

... Which meant a lot, since the worst consequence of a bad use for a living being was dying, as simply as it was.

"Well, after that, everyone is judge of their own doing, and all ghosts aren't as wary as others in front of the risks they incur by acting however they want."

For the spur of a moment, Tsuna believed Reborn was addressing a reproach to someone, but he didn't really see who or why he did. Or maybe he just taunted Mukuro, but the other fainted being deaf, since he didn't come back. The boy decided to bypass that, as he couldn't wait to know more about other subjects.

"So, the flames are used to get in contact with the dead," He resumed, taking back the lesson where they had left it.

"Not only," The other intervened. "It's their principal use, yes, interacting with spirits. In general, they make us able to see and control everything invisible, whether it's alive or not. At least when you possess the necessary powers and skills. And the right type of flame."

"The right type?" Tsuna repeated, confused.

Then, Reborn smiled with satisfaction, as if it was precisely where he wanted to get from the beginning.

"The right type," He confirmed, absolutely sure of himself. "Just like the blood types, some energies are compatible with each other, because their flame are alike. If you want to control a peculiar entity, you have to ensure yourself that he's in the same flame's category as you, or else you'll fail.

There's six major types of flames, that are called by their colours - blue, green, red, yellow, purple or indigo - or sometimes by natural signs - rain, lightning, storm, sun, cloud and mist. If someone or an entity can possess more than one, usually, one of them is more present, which reveals its true nature. Well, since we can find a lot of different mindset per same flame, that last theory isn't liked by everyone and its interpretations aren't all the same.

At least, one thing's sure, it's that each flame will bring a certain type of ghost, whatever his energy is."

After the beginning of his monologue, a long explanation on the distinction between communication and control, between invocation and calling. For short, Tsuna understood that if the living being wanted to contact a peculiar entity, they had to have the same flames. However, for the entities, it wasn't always true, since the ghost going to the humans would tend to be attracted to an energy reflecting his character and his state of mind: the discreet, the peaceful ones, the ones that are used to observing more than acting would more easily go to the Rain, the poltergeist and others types of trickster ghost toward the Lighting, the vengeful to the Storm, evil and good respectfully to the Mist and Sun. And finally, the wandering souls, aloof, lost, were attracted to the Cloud.

After that awfully long speech, Tsuna was ready to give up. His head was dizzy with all the complexity of that world so hard to understand. He didn't understand why those stories of compatibility were and absolute and wasn't in the same time.

Fortunately, Reborn came to his rescue, guessing what was his problem:

"To make it simple," He said, "Our flame's nature will never change from the day we were born, even after death. However, people can change, the same goes with the entities: one of them can manifest himself onto an energy and then get attracted to another."

"Alright" Said his student, not really convinced, but at least not so confused anymore. "What about mine?"

The boy wasn't sure, but he would've had sworn the kid's smile widened further to his question. And, indeed, his next reply proved him right:

"Yours doesn't apply to any of the types I mentioned," The teacher confided, without hiding his amusement.

"Huh?" The poor boy exclaimed, as panicked as he was surprised. As he was waiting for new theoretical complexity, he didn't find that laughable or whatsoever, him.

"Yours' orange," His interlocutor simply replied, as if there was nothing else to say.

Tsuna was persuaded there was more than that.

"What it is, a mix of the other flames?" He tempted to guess as he rubbed his temples, tired.

Good news for his bullied nerves, Reborn became serious again.

"No, it's a seventh kind of flame. I didn't mention it with the others because it's both the rarest and the more powerful, nay the most important of all."

"How comes?"

"Your idea of mix isn't that wrong. If the orange flame, the Sky flame, was a mix of all the others, it would take all of them in, in a general and homogenous way. The reason why it's so different is because all rules I took so long to explain to you were no important for the Sky Flame. It can call, manipulate, control all form of energy without any distinction. That's also why it's so rare."

"Ah..."

Tsuna didn't really understand what that was involving, but Reborn was talking about it as if it had been really important. He found that curious that a no-good person was given such an amazing power, but alright. He didn't know how to use it anyway.

Yes, but when he would know how to...

Okay, first, he would have to survive to Reborn's company. And the infernal baby didn't seem to make things easier for him, seeing his teaching methods.

Speaking of babies...

"Say, Reborn... Why do you look so young? Or maybe, how comes you know so much, at your age? You're only a kid!"

Said kid's traits darkened.

"Hum, I prefer your first formulation. I won't reply to that, because I don't want to, but know that I'm not as old as I seem to be. It's partly because of my position..."

"That's what Mukuro was saying, concerning the, huuh... Arcobaleno?"

He nodded.

"Quickly, with the occult art's development, group of people made it their specialty and reunited in clans or families. Those are societies more or less out of the civilian world - according to the era's mentality - they are the ones who discovered the flames and their uses, letting us grow apart from charlatans. We know how what we do, and most of all, how we do it, us. Anyway, those powerful dynasties reign onto the invisible thanks to their power. However, the human heart isn't foolproof. It's corruptible, it reasons subjectively, and if it strays out of the right path, seeing the power it has within its hands, it can because disastrous. We are speaking of interacting with the deads, or any kind of things humans took a morbid fascination to.

So, over all those families, the Arcobaleno Order is ready to discipline bad use of the flames or linked spirit. We are seven, and our name means "Rainbow", because all of us each possess one of the seven flames. Our task is to maintain the worlds equilibrium and energies, and that's what I came to do at first, when I set sail to Japan."

Tsuna gulped down, nervous, both because of those pieces of information, and the way Reborn had to remember him why he was there in the first place.

"Those families..." He began, to switch onto another subject.

Reborn didn't wait for him to finish his question before answering. Apparently, he also had something to say concerning the families.

"Do you know the mafia concept?" He suddenly asked.

"Err-... yes, more or less," Tsuna said, not really understanding what those scary guys were doing into that story.

"Well it's kind of the same thing to us. Speaking of which, most of the medium's families are known in the 'civil' world under that name. They form a vast network of references, alliances and rivalries. Some goes on taking up advice and services; they form, for short, our world's base. Speaking of which, you know some of their members..."

"Excuuuuuuuse me?!" Tsuna exclaimed.

He was definitely convinced Reborn was the first he met from that crazy world, and it was more than enough.

"Sure you do," His teacher ensured him. "Think about it."

A bit shocked, the small brunet thought about all the people he knew, curious.

"Bianchi?" He tempted, not really sure of himself.

But he had to resign to that battle, because Reborn nodded, validating his supposition.

"The Gokudera family is relatively old and kind of a must, even if it has few members and that they're spread around the world. Bianchi and her brother are the children of the actual boss, even though it seems his son didn't finish training yet."

"Are you kidding, Gokudera-kun? But he never told me anything!"

"Remember our world lives in the shadows, Tsuna. We don't reveal our presence to those that aren't part of it, as close as they are to you. However, according to my investigation, Gokudera played a big part in your initiation, didn't he?"

"... It was him who wanted to invoke entities, the day Mukuro arrived. But he never talked about flames."

"But he already knew about them. I think he has all the theoretical knowledge on the question, but not the skills yet. Well, you could ask him that yourself, if you're in doubt. Who else?"

As Tsuna thought of the question, he remembered Gokudera and Bianchi's reaction in front of the Arcobaleno. Obviously, they knew him for a while. He decided to recall all the people he saw when he was with him. The name that came to his mind struck him.

"Don't tell me... Dino?!"

Once again, the teacher confirmed, but his face darkened.

"Dino went away. But he was supposed to inherit of the Cavallone family, a big and powerful family. It was him who gave me the idea of teaching you, because I had been his teacher few years ago. All that time, wasted..."

The teen felt the huge deception Reborn must have felt because of that. And he understood as well Dino's terror when he saw his teacher again.

However, as the atmosphere was becoming heavier, he didn't know how to jump onto another subject. He didn't have any more names. He still tried:

"Is there someone else?" He asked with a light tone.

"Romario," Reborn replied, still in his thoughts. "It's one of the henchman that followed Dino and his delirium, to ensure himself of his safety, just in case..."

"Ah," Tsuna sighed, realizing that Dino's boss at the restaurant was actually his henchman. On another hand, he didn't manage to make the bad atmosphere go away.

"And... Chrome?" He asked, dropping his last card.

At last, Reborn reconnected to reality. He stared at Tsuna, trying to understand where that hypothesis came from. The teen felt the need to justify himself:

"Well it's that... She's really sensitive... And a bit interested about death, all of that stuff... And she's also family to Mukuro, so..."

His interlocutor took his time to think about it.

"No," He finally said. "I don't think she is."

And that was all.

"Well," He spoke again, with a radically different tone, "if you don't have any more questions, we should continue your training."

"I've got one last question!" Tsuna rushed. And it wasn't only to delay the training, potentially as dangerous as this morning's - okay, yes, it was mainly because of that. But the question was really important to him. Actually, it was bothering him from the very beginning of the day.

"Why were you... so talkative, today? I mean, before, you never really answered my questions, but there, all this secret stuff that you reveal just like that..."

Reborn, who already stood up, turned around to face him.

"Because you're my student," He said, as if it was obvious. And he walked to the door again.

But Tsuna interrupted him once again : "That's all?" - He seemed angry about that - "It was that simple, to know about things?"

The teacher turned around once again, and sighed.

"Yes, it was that simple. Because your new status includes you officially in the world you were wondering about, I'm now authorized, not to say forced, to explain how things work here. Don't get fooled though, there's still some details I can't talk about, but you'll know he majority of it. What's necessary."

A pause. A smirk.

"Welcome in our world, Dame-Tsuna~"


End file.
